SOUTHERN  BRANCH, 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA, 

iRARY, 

ANGELES,  CALIF. 


THE 
REAL 
SOUTH 
AFRICA 


HPHE  REAL 

SOUTH  AFRICA 

BY 

AMBROSE  PRATT 

Author  of 
"  David  Syme  :    Father  of  Protection  in  Australia  "  etc. 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION 

BY 

THE  RIGHT  HON.  ANDREW  FISHER,  P.C., 

PRIME  MINISTER  OF  THE  COMMONWEALTH  OF  AUSTRALIA 


With  Eight  Illustrations  and  a  Map 


p-  »-  r>  A  ^ 

\)  0  O  U  i 


73Z 

sy 


INTRODUCTION 

I   GLADLY  respond  to  the  Author's  wish  that 
a   few   introductory   lines   of   mine   should 
appear    as    a    preface    to    his    book.     Mr. 
Ambrose  Pratt  accompanied  me  on  the  visit  to 
»,       South  Africa  and  had  ample  opportunities  of  col- 
lecting information  which  I  think  adds  a  useful 
and  interesting  contribution  to  the  literature  deal- 
ing with  what  is  happily  now  a  portion  of  the 
j     British  Empire. 

Prior  to  my  visit  a  new  political  South  Africa 
jw 

had  been  created,  the  first  Union  Govern- 
ment formed,  the  Members  of  the  first  Union 
Parliament  elected  and  waiting  to  be  sworn  in. 

Few   people    thought    at   the    termination   of 
the  War  in  1902  that  in  1910  a  Constitution  would 

vii 


INTRODUCTION 

be  granted  giving  full  power  of  self-government 
to  the  Union,  but  it  was  my  privilege  to  be  pre- 
sent as  the  representative  of  the  Government  of 
Australia,  at  the  opening  of  the  Parliament. 

My  mission  was  to  convey  to  the  people 
of  the  South  African  Union  the  fraternal  greet- 
ings and  good  wishes  of  the  people  of  the  Com- 
monwealth of  Australia  on  their  achievement  of 
Union  and  offer  congratulations  on  the  birth  of 
another  Dominion  Nation  within  the  British 
Empire. 

Men  who  a  few  short  years  before  had  been 
engaged  in  a  bitter  struggle  against  the  Mother 
Country  were  standing  in  that  Parliament 
and  proclaiming  to  the  world  the  inestim- 
able boon  of  a  free  Constitution  under  the 
British  Crown.  Amongst  these  men  we  find 
General  Botha — who  took  such  a  prominent  part 
in  the  War  and  to-day  stands  as  the  Prime 
Minister  of  the  Union  and  lately  visited  London 
in  that  capacity  to  attend  the  Imperial  Confer- 
ence. Associated  with  him  are  men  of  marked 
ability.  It  is  not  to  be  understood,  however,  that 
all  the  men  of  high  ideals  and  great  public  ser- 

viii 


INTRODUCTION 

vice  are  on  one  side  in  politics,  or  of  the  same 
nationality  of  origin.  When  the  time  comes  to 
do  honour  to  whom  honour  is  due,  other  names 
will  appear  in  the  historian's  impartial  record  of 
acts  and  deeds  done  in  the  nation's  interests, 
not  less  prominent  and  honoured  than  that  of 
the  Union's  first  Minister  himself. 

In  Cape  Town  I  saw,  heard  and  met  many 
South  Africans  during  a  week  of  rejoicing  and 
festivities  and  formed  the  opinion,  which  I  then 
publicly  expressed,  that  the  arena  for  the  settle- 
ment of  disputes  between  the  British  and  Dutch 
people  in  South  Africa  had  by  the  Act  of  Union, 
been  finally  removed  from  the  field  to  the  floor 
of  Parliament  House. 

It  would  not  be  true  to  say  there  was  no 
reserve  nor  any  sullenness  in  the  minds  of  the 
two  contracting  parties.  That  feeling  will,  I  feel 
sure  eventually  be  supplanted  by  a  friendship 
between  the  peoples  of  the  two  races  as  surpris- 
ing to  those  who  witness  it  as  was  the  act  of 
Union  itself. 

I  cannot  believe  that  the  main  cause  of  the 
hastening  of  real  union  will  be  fear  of  native 

he 


INTRODUCTION 

and  subject  races,  serious  as  the  solution  of  that 
problem  is  now  and  is  likely  to  remain.  I  do 
not  fear  the  destruction  of  the  civilization  within 
the  Union  by  armed  or  other  attacks  of  the 
colored  races,  powerful  and  numerous  as  they 
are,  within  and  adjacent  to  the  Union.  In  their 
savage  state  they  seem  to  me  to  be  a  greater 
worry,  menace  and  danger  than  they  would  be  if 
they  knew  sufficient  to  be  aware  of  the  penalty 
they  would  have  to  pay  if  they  made  war  on  the 
white  race. 

I  saw  the  great  mines  as  a  miner  only  can 
see  them.  The  figures  quoted  in  this  work  re- 
garding the  mortality  in  the  mines  are  very  un- 
satisfactory and  indeed  sad  reading,  and  I  hope 
to  see  great  improvements  in  this  direction.  I 
should  be  happy  to  think  that  the  author  had 
overstated  the  case,  but  I  saw  enough  during  my 
sojourn  to  form  the  opinion  that  very  great  im- 
provement can  be  made. 

The  Native  Races  of  South  Africa  are  re- 
nowned throughout  the  world  for  their  splendid 
physique  and  great  vitality,  but  town  life  does 
not  seem  to  agree  with  them.  The  mortality  at 


INTRODUCTION 

the  mines  is  exceedingly  high,  and  the  life  of  the 
casual  workers  about  the  towns  appears  to  cause 
deterioration.  There  is  no  finer  example  of 
manhood  than  many  of  the  Bantu  tribes  in  the 
native  state,  but  the  semi-civilised  native  as  seen 
in  the  towns  of  South  Africa  is  not  what  could 
be  described  as  an  elevating  moral  spectacle. 

Useful,  suitable  and  profitable  work  must 
be  found  for  them  and  there  must  be  a  line  of 
demarcation  between  white  and  colored  labor. 
White  men  cannot  and  will  not  do  work  that 
colored  men  usually  perform.  In  Africa  nearly 
all  manual  labor  at  present  is  done  by  the 
natives,  and  there  are  few  avenues  for  white  men, 
except  as  overseers,  etc. 

The  British  and  Dutch  seem  to  hold  dif- 
ferent ideas  as  to  how  this  problem  should  be 
solved.  Some  urge  the  education  of  the  colored 
races,  others  think  they  should  be  left  in  their 
present  primitive  state. 

The  thing  that  strikes  an  Australian  is  the 
scarcity  of  timber  in  a  great  part  of  the  country. 
Our  despised  gum  trees  we  saw  there.  They 
were  originally  intended  for  mine  timber, 

xl 


INTRODUCTION 

but  now  lend  beauty  to  the  landscape.  South 
Africa  would  gladly  welcome  the  timber  that  we 
in  Australia  ruthlessly  destroy  every  year  and 
do  not  value. 

I  was  charmed  with  the  appearance  of  the 
rugged  country  which  had  been  so  fruitful  of 
romantic  and  tragic  stories.  During  the  time 
spent  in  South  Africa  I  had  opportunities  of 
visiting  every  Province,  travelling  as  far  north 
as  Livingstone,  and  the  appended  map  shows 
the  route  traversed. 

An  impressive  feature  of  Mr.  Ambrose  Pratt's 
book  is  the  mass  of  official  statistical  evidence 
which  he  brings  to  bear  in  support  of  his 
statements.  Whether  or  not  one  may  agree 
with  his  deductions,  the  figures  themselves  are 
sufficiently  striking  to  call  for  earnest  thought. 

During  my  travels  in  South  Africa  I  was 
happy  to  meet  many  old  friends.  Some  had 
prospered  and  were  satisfied  with  their  lot,  others 
spoke  well  of  their  new  home  but  longed  for  the 
scenes  of  their  youth.  Such  is  the  life  of  our 
race. 

I  cannot  close  this  brief  introduction  with- 

xii 


INTRODUCTION 

out  expressing  my  good  wishes  for  the  pros- 
perity of  the  people  of  our  new  sister  nation 
who  showed  us  such  kindness  and  consideration 
while  we  were  amongst  them. 

ANDREW  FISHER. 


Xlll 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

C  OME  of  the  material  in  this  book  has  been 
published  in  another  form  in  "  The  Age  " 
newspaper  of  Melbourne,  on  behalf  of 
which  journal  I  made  my  last  visit  to  South 
Africa.  I  am  indebted  to  Messrs.  David  Syme 
&  Co.,  the  proprietors  of  "  The  Age,"  for  per- 
mission to  include  the  same  in  the  present 
volume.  The  illustrations  are  from  photographs 
taken  by  Mr.  M.  L.  Shepherd,  Secretary  to  the 
Prime  Minister  of  Australia  and  also  (a  few)  by 
the  Rt.  Hon.  A.  Fisher,  the  Prime  Minister.  I 
desire  to  express  my  grateful  acknowledgments 
to  Mr.  Shepherd  for  the  use  of  his  photographs 
and  to  the  Rt.  Hon.  A.  Fisher  for  his  pictures 
and  also  for  the  Introduction  which  he  has 
kindly  contributed  to  this  volume. 

AMBROSE  PRATT. 

MELBOURNE, 

December  14,  1912. 

XV 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

I. — A  BIRD'S-EYE  VIEW  i 
II. — THE  BLACK  MAN      -  12 
III. — THE  BLACK  MENACE                        -  33 
IV. — THE  EFFECT  OF  THE  NATIVE  ON  THE 
SOCIAL    AND    ECONOMIC    CON- 
DITIONS OF  THE  WHITE  POPULA- 
TION                                       -  48 
V.— THE  BOER                                       -  58 
VI. — THE  BOER — CONTINUED    -               -  79 
VII. — POLITICS                                          -  94 
VIII. — THE  RULERS  OF  THE  COUNTRY        -  102 
v  IX. — GEOLOGICAL  AND  GENERAL      -       -  109 
X. — PROVINCIAL  CENTRES                       -  124 
XL— THE  RAND                                        -  147 
XII— CRIME                                               -  168 
XIII. — RHODESIA  AND  THE  VICTORIA  FALLS  179 
XIV. — THE  MATOPPAS  AND  RHODES'  GRAVE  192 
XV. — AFRIKANDER  LITERATURE  &  LITERACY  199 
XVI. — MUNICIPAL  ENTERPRISE    -               -  206 

xvii 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

XVII.— SOCIAL  NOTES  -  213 

XVIIL— RACIALISM  229 
XIX.— THE  PASTORAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL 

OUTLOOK  -  240 

XX.— To  ENGLISHMEN  IN  ALL  PARTS  OF 
THE     WORLD     EXCEPT     SOUTH 

AFRICA  -  256 

APPENDIX  A.— NATIVE  CRIME  -  262 

B.—  -  276 

C-  -  277 

„         D. — THE     PARLIAMENT     OF     THE 

UNION  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     -  280 


xvm 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

MAP     -                                    -  Facing  title-page 

LEWINIKA'S  BAND  AND  TRIBESMEN  „     page     44 

DRAKENSBURG  MOUNTAINS  „         „      124 

VICTORIA  FALLS  -  „         „      178 

CECIL  RHODES'S  GRAVE      -  „         ,,192 


XIX 


THE 
REAL   SOUTH    AFRICA 

CHAPTER  I 

A  BIRD'S-EYE  VIEW 


C  OUTH  Africa  is  a  haunting  country :  in- 
finitely mysterious,  forbidding,  beautiful 
and  strange.  Amongst  all  the  countries  of 
the  world  it  stands  out  a  lonely  and  distract- 
ing figure,  compelling  interest  and  prolonged 
attention  by  reason  of  its  unlikeness  to  any 
other,  its  essential  peculiarity  and  its  boding 
aspect  of  aloofness.  Everybody  who  has  visited 
the  place  bears  willing  or  grudging  witness  to 
its  penetrating  lure.  At  first  it  repels,  but 
even  in  the  first  shock  of  repulsion  a  vivid 
curiosity  awakens  in  the  breast  of  the  intruder 

I 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

and  very  soon  this  curiosity  expands  into  a 
reluctantly  admitted  consciousness  of  some  un- 
defined, deep  and  inexplicable  charm.  Afri- 
kanders boast  that  they  who  leave  South 
Africa  are  never  satisfied  till  they  return,  and 
they  claim  that  the  witchery  is  potent  to  with- 
stand the  flight  of  years.  More  than  a  grain 
of  truth  is  buried  in  the  statement.  My  own 
experience  may  be  given  as  an  instance.  I 
paid  my  initial  visit  to  the  country  more  than 
ten  years  ago.  I  left  it  gladly  and  after  a 
decade  spent  in  other  lands  I  seized — with  an 
eagerness  I  cannot  explain — upon  the  first 
opportunity  that  reached  me  to  visit  it  again. 
Now  the  lure  has  double  force.  No  man  can 
forecast  the  future,  but  it  seems  to  me  that  if 
I  live  long  I  shall  die  in  Southern  Africa. 
Yet  truth  constrains  me  to  confess  that  the 
charm  of  South  Africa's  attraction  works  like 
a  subtle  poison  in  the  veins.  To  many  have 
I  spoken  who  have  felt  the  lure  and  all  made 
admission  that  close  at  heart  they  knew  a 
counter-irritant  which  warned  them  to  resist 
and  whispered  like  the  voice  of  conscience — 
"  Better  keep  away !  "  The  reason — who  can 
say?  Is  it  that  the  lure,  like  the  fascination 

2 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

of  an  opiate,  is  to  the  senses  rather  than  to 
the  spirit?  Is  it  addressed  to  death  rather 
than  to  life — to  the  instincts  of  luxury  and 
still  repose  and  not  to  the  sources  of  vigorous 
endeavour?  Is  it,  in  brief,  a  narcotic  and  not 
a  stimulant?  But  the  problem  may  have  a 
less  complex  psychological  significance.  It 
may  be  merely  a  question  of  man's  eternal 
covetousness  of  forbidden  fruit.  Let  those 
blink  the  fact  who  choose  or  can,  South  Africa 
is  a  black  man's  country.  It  belongs  of  natural 
right  to  the  negroid  races.  The  white  man  is  its 
over-lord,  has  been  for  centuries,  but  its  owner 
and  enduring  occupant — No :  at  least,  not  yet. 
Natural  forces  are  massed  and  ranged  against 
him  of  which  he  is  only  now  beginning  to 
acquire  an  adequate  conception.  Climate, 
Disease,  Increase, — so  are  the  forces  named. 
And  there  are  intrinsic  political  difficulties  to 
reckon  with  as  well — the  resultant  outcome  of 
his  tamperings  with  Nature. 

Whatever  the  port  through  which  a  stranger 
may  enter  South  Africa  he  is  instantly  struck 
with  astonishment  at  the  numbers  of  natives 
everywhere  in  evidence.  Long  before  the  ship 
"  ties  up "  numerous  blacks  appear,  in  boats, 

3 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

in  tugs,  even  on  the  pilot  steamer.  Immedi- 
ately the  ship  touches  the  wharf  hundreds  of 
natives  swarm  aboard  to  coal  her.  The  pas- 
senger lands,  and  is  promptly  assailed  by 
crowds  of  rickshaw  Kaffirs,  big  magnificent 
fellows,  most  fantastically  attired,  wearing 
startling  head  dresses,  from  which  great  horns 
sprout  out  fiercely.  In  self-defence  the  visitor 
chooses  a  rickshaw,  and  is  dragged  at  a  rapid 
pace  to  his  hotel.  The  ride  takes  him  through 
the  city,  and  ever  his  wonder  grows.  For  each 
white  man  he  sees  he  meets  seven  or  eight  blacks. 
The  natives  are  all  decently  attired,  wearing  more 
or  less  the  white  man's  clothes,  yet  modified  to 
suit  their  savage  tastes.  The  women  (wonder- 
fully comely  creatures  they  are)  have  a  Roman 
fancy  for  toga-like  drapings  :  the  men  affect  the 
smock  and  knee  breeches — legs  and  feet  bare 
and  shiny.  Both  men  and  women  adore  crude 
blazing  colors — scarlet  for  choice,  a  flaunting, 
blaring  scarlet.  So  many  blacks  :  so  few  whites  ! 
One  begins  to  be  curious.  "  Ah,"  one  says,  "  but- 
the  blacks  are  an  open  air  race — they  don't  mind 
this  burning  sun :  the  whites  are  indoors.  That 
is  the  explanation."  Of  course,  the  notion  is 
illusory,  but  then  one  is  always  reluctant  to 

4 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

accept  unpleasant  facts.  Yet  one  must  at  last. 
One  glance  at  the  population  statistics  and  the 
cold  douche  is  over.  Durban,  population  67,000 
of  whom  37,000  are  blacks  :  Capetown,  popula- 
tion 77,000,  of  whom  35,000  are  blacks  :  Johan- 
nesburg, population  (approx.)  200,000,  of  whom 
105,000  are  blacks  :  and  similiar  proportions  ob- 
tain in  nearly  all  the  other  cities  and  larger  towns. 
Of  the  country  there  is  a  still  more  interesting 
tale  to  tell.  The  census  returns  of  1904  show 
that  there  are  4,652,662  blacks  as  against 
1,135,000  whites  within  the  Union:  and  it  has 
been  estimated  that  fully  another  2,000,000 
natives  live  south  of  the  Zambesi. 

Another  startling  fact  lurks  in  the  official  blue 
book.  The  blacks  are  increasing  at  a  more  rapid 
rate  relatively  than  the  whites.  It  is  hardly 
strange  that  they  should.  South  Africa  is  their 
country.  It  is  a  tropical  country,  controlled  by 
a  handful  of  whites.  How  long  the  whites  will 
continue  to  control  it  no  man  can  say.  The 
colored  problem  is  the  deepest  and  most  vital  of 
all  political  issues  in  South  Africa.  It  dominates 
every  other,  even  the  racial  antipathy  now  divid- 
ing Boers  and  British,  and  it  is  quite  likely  that 
it  will  eventually  be  the  means  of  bringing  Boers 

5 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

and  British  together  in  some  great  struggle 
undertaken  to  determine  finally  which  force  is 
stronger,  white  or  black.  At  present  the  whites 
are  absolutely  paramount.  The  aristocratic  re- 
lation between  the  races  which  originated  in  the 
slave  system  of  the  early  days,  has  been  kept  alive 
by  the  smashing  of  the  power  of  the  great  native 
chiefs,  and  the  consequent  acceptance  by  the 
natives  of  the  white  man's  rule.  The  white  man 
has  a  natural  instinct  that  he  is  superior  to  the 
uneducated  native,  and  the  native  appears  to 
have  a  reciprocal  sense  of  inferiority.  But  the 
white  man's  higher  plane  cannot  possibly  sub- 
sist any  longer  than  he  can  prevent  the  native 
from  developing  the  qualities  of  intellect,  initia- 
tive and  resource  which  have  given  the  former  the 
mastery. 

The  truth  seems  to  be  that  the  white  man's 
rule  depends  on  keeping  the  blacks  ignorant  and 
mentally  benighted.  Yet  this  cannot  be  done 
for  ever.  Just  now  the  native  is  doing  all  the 
rough  and  unskilled  work  in  South  Africa,  He 
is  the  industrial  basis  of  the  African  economic 
system.  The  whites  are  merely  overseers. 
White  men  scorn  to  do  unskilled  work,  because 
it  has  come  to  be  regarded  as  Kaffir's  work,  and 

6 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

the  feeling  of  caste  (caste  has  replaced  the  old 
slave  system)  is  so  universal  and  so  strong  that 
unskilled  work  is  looked  upon  as  degrading,  and 
would  lead  to  the  ostracism  of  any  white  man 
who  transgressed  the  unwritten  social  law  by 
touching  it. 

There  is  hardly  a  white  artisan  at  work  in 
South  Africa  who  has  not  one  or  two  natives  in 
his  employ.  Every  white  workman  insists  upon 
having  a  native  assistant  to  carry  and  hold  his 
tools,  and  perform  the  rougher  parts  of  his  task. 
A  carpenter  walks  to  his  job  with  a  Kaffir  behind 
him  carrying  his  bag.  Bricklayers  do  nothing 
but  put  the  bricks  in  place  in  a  lordly  fashion  : 
the  rest  of  their  work  is  performed  by  blacks. 
Every  artisan  is  essentially  an  overseer,  and  the 
blacks  are  his  industrial  valets.  The  practice  is 
injurious  and  shortsighted  to  the  last  degree.  It 
undermines  and  diminishes  the  white  man's  in- 
dustrial efficiency,  and  it  trains  the  native  to  sup- 
plant him.  But  it  is  the  iron  custom  of  South 
Africa,  and  nobody  dares  to  break  it.  It  would 
be  well  in  these  circumstances  for  the  whites  if 
the  natives  were  a  stupid  and  truly  inferior  race, 
like  the  aboriginals  of  Australia.  But  they  are 
nothing  of  the  sort.  They  are  naturally  a  cap- 

7 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

able  and  gifted  people,  and  it  is  proving  quite 
impossible  to  restrict  them  to  unskilled  work. 
Their  intense  desire  for  education  is  the  subject 
of  universal  comment.  The  vast  majority  of 
the  natives  in  domestic  employment  have  books 
in  their  possession  with -which  they  are  continu- 
ally attempting  to  instruct  themselves.  In  Pre- 
toria there  are  1,600  native  children  under  14,  of 
whom  1,200  are  attending  school.  In  the  Cape 
Colony  there  are  103,000  native  children  attend- 
ing school,  as  against  73,000  white  children.  It 
is  true  that  the  standard  of  education  given  at 
the  schools  is  low,  but  so  general  a  diffusion  of 
new  knowledge  must  have  an  immense  effect  on 
the  capacities  of  the  rising  generation.  Perhaps 
the  root  reason  why  natives  so  absolutely 
monopolise  the  unskilled  labor  market  is  be- 
cause they  accept  low  wages.  In  domestic  ser- 
vice the  average  wage  paid  to  Kaffirs  is  io/-  a 
month  and  keep.  Farm  native  laborers  get  I5/- 
a  month  and  keep.  In  the  mines  the  natives 
earn  much  more,  and  are  often  paid  from  2/6  to 
5/-  a  day.  White  workers  demand  and  receive 
enormously  higher  pay.  A  carpenter  gets  2O/- 
or  22/6  per  day,  and  white  mine  workers  receive 
from  ,£15  to  ^30  per  month. 

8 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

The  natives  can  afford  to  accept  low  wages, 
because  they  have  a  subsidiary  source  of  liveli- 
hood in  their  tribal  lands,  and  the  labor  of  their 
women  and  children.  Every  native  is  a  culti- 
vator. Every  native  has  a  patch  of  tribal  land, 
which  he  regularly  plants  with  mealies  once  a 
year,  and  which  yields  him  and  his  family  a  suffi- 
ciency of  food  to  support  life.  Once  a  year, 
wherever  he  may  be,  he  repairs  to  his  small  farm 
(however  distant  it  may  be  from  his  ordinary 
work)  and  sows  his  mealies.  When  that  is  done 
he  returns  to  his  employment  on  Boer  farm,  or 
in  the  city,  or  on  the  mines,  and  resumes  the 
task  of  earning  the  white  man's  money  and  doing 
the  white  man's  work. 

To  travel  across  South  Africa  is  a  revelation. 
Wherever  one  may  go  native  kraals  abound. 
For  every  white  settler's  homestead  there  are 
three  or  four  native  kraals.  The  inland  cities 
are  all  flanked  with  densely  peopled  native  habi- 
tations. And  behind  all  this  there  are  the  native 
reserves  in  Bechuanaland,  the  Cape,  the  Orange 
River  Colony,  and  in  the  Vaal,  all  of  which  are 
teeming  with  natives.  Right  in  the  heart  of  the 
Union  lies  Basutoland,  a  province  half  as  large 
as  Victoria,  and  as  fine  a  piece  of  fertile  territory 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

as  can  be  found  in  the  world.  This  belongs 
absolutely  to  the  Basuto  nation,  and  is  merely 
subject  to  British  protection.  It  is  inhabited  by 
nearly  400,000  Basuto  natives  (there  are  only 
800  whites  in  the  territory),  and  it  is  productively 
occupied.  These  blacks  are  a  very  superior 
race.  They  are  skilled  stockmen  and  farmers  : 
they  own  large  herds  of  cattle,  sheep  and  horses  : 
and  they  are  armed  with  modern  rifles.  One  day 
they  will  prove  a  terrible  thorn  to  their  white 
over-lords.  Many  of  the  chiefs  are  wealthy  and 
highly  educated  men. 

The  richer  natives  have  long  since  adopted 
the  practice  of  sending  their  sons  abroad  to 
Britain  and  America  to  be  educated,  and  to  re- 
ceive University  training.*  Sprinkled  all  over 
South  Africa  are  scores  of  these  cultured  natives. 
They  are  a  power  in  the  land,  and  already  one 
of  them,  a  doctor,  has  been  returned  a  full- 
fledged  member  to  a  Provincial  Council  under 
the  new  constitution. 

Each  province  .of  the  Union  treats  the  natives 
differently.  In  the  Vaal  and  the  O.R.C.  they 
are  denied  the  smallest  semblance  of  political 
rights.  In  the  Cape  they  are  on  a  par  with  the 

*See  note  to  chapter  3,  page  35. 
10 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

whites,  and  possess  the  suffrage.  In  Natal  they 
can  acquire  the  suffrage,  although  by  no  means 
easily.  The  great  mass  of  them  as  yet  do  not 
understand  the  value  or  meaning  of  the  vote, 
and  stand  aloof  from  politics.  But  they  are 
waking  up.  The  educated  minority  is  beginning 
to  infect  the  majority  with  a  sense  of  injustice 
and  a  feeling  of  unrest,  and  it  may  be  said  with 
confidence  that  the  coming  generation  of  natives 
will  put  forward  a  demand  for  full  political  en- 
franchisement so  powerful  that  the  whites  will 
be  unable  to  resist  it,  except  in  arms. 


ii 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    BLACK    MAN 

/TPHE  six  million  blacks  who  are  estimated  to 
live  at  this  moment  South  of  the  Zambesi 
are  nearly  all  members  of  some  division 
or  sub-division  of  the  Bantu  race.  They  speak 
in  many  dialects,  but  all  these  have  a  common 
origin  and  are  localised  corruptions  of  the  Bantu 
tongue.  The  Bantu  people  are  not  aboriginals. 
They  invaded  South  Africa  from  the  North,  and 
probably  they  overflowed  in  prehistoric  times 
from  the  Nile  Valley,  which  would  appear  to  have 
been  the  cradle  of  all  the  more  virile  negro  tribes 
and  nations.  The  indigenous  inhabitants  of 
South  Africa,  the  Hottentots  and  Bushmen,  are 
a  degenerate  and  disappearing  type.  They  un- 

12 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

successfully  opposed  the  Bantu  invasion  and  in 
modern  times  they  have  been  ground  to  powder 
between  the  upper  and  nether  mill  stones  of  the 
Bantu  rule  and  white  supremacy.  The  dominant 
natives  in  South  Africa  to-day  are  the  Zulus,. the 
Matabeles,  and  the  Basutos.  The  Kaffirs  and 
Bechuanas  are  numerous,  but  their  political  im- 
portance is  comparatively  insignificant  owing  to 
the  fact  that  they  lack  the  qualities  of  potential 
greatness  which  naturally  distinguish  the  purer 
blooded  Bantu  stock.  It  is  a  custom  among 
White  Afrikanders  to  apply  indiscriminately  the 
term  "  Kaffir  "  to  all  black  men.  Really  it  is  a 
cognomen  of  contempt  and  the  Zulus  in  par- 
ticular resent  it  keenly.  The  higher  negroes  are 
men  of  matchless  courage  and  magnificent 
physique.  They  are  born  fighters  and  when 
constrained  by  circumstances  to  work  they  make 
splendid  workers.  Ethnologists  declare  the 
negro  the  supreme  type  of  arrested  development. 
They  point  to  his  prognathous  jaw,  his  retreat- 
ing forehead,  his  lesser  brain  space  and  his  rela- 
tively fewer  brain  folds  as  conclusive  proofs  of 
his  irremediable  inferiority  to  the  white  man. 
Left  to  himself,  they  say,  the  negro  will  never 
rise  much  above  the  level  of  the  brute  creation. 

13 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

All  that  may  be  perfectly  true.  Between  the 
white  man  and  the  black  there  is  an  obvious  and 
essential  inequality,  and  to  deny  it  would  be 
utterly  futile.  But  when  these  premises  are 
granted  only  half  the  problem  is  stated,  after  all. 
The  great  color  question  in  South  Africa  is  not 
— "  Can  the  negro  make  himself  the  equal  of  the 
whites  ?  "  but — "  Can  he  develop  to  such  a  pass 
that  he  will  be  able  to  shake  off  the  white  man's 
yoke  and  thereafter  maintain  himself  as  an  inde- 
pendent factor  in  the  affairs  of  civilised  man- 
kind ?  "  This  question  has  long  been  forcing  it- 
self on  the  attention  of  the  thinking  minority  of 
White  South  Africans,  and  it  is  my  sincere  con- 
viction that  before  many  years  are  gone  it  will 
constitute  a  problem  of  Imperial  and  world  wide 
interest. 

Let  us  consider  the  negro's  natural  capaci- 
ties and  limitations.  In  his  wild  native  state 
he  is  a  cruel  and  sordid  savage.  His  pas- 
sions are  violent  and  inexplicably  capricious : 
his  will  power  is  fiery  but  unstable.  He  is  gifted 
with  an  intense  imaginative  power  and  a  vivid 
sense  of  the  reality  of  immaterial  conceptions ; 
that  is  to  say,  he  is  frantically  superstitious  and  a 
devout  believer  in  the  supernatural.  He  has  a 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

great  love  of  ostentation.  His  impassivity  to 
suffering  is  almost  monstrous  and  can  only  be 
the  result  of  an  undeveloped  nervous  system. 
He  sets  little  or  no  value  on  human  life.  His 
disposition  is  extremely  sensual.  He  has  a  keen 
sense  of  the  ludicrous,  a  deep  love  of  music. 
Most  of  these  qualities  necessarily  range  on  the 
wrong  side  of  the  ledger.  Now  take  the  credit 
side.  The  negro's  courage  is  beyond  either 
praise  or  criticism — it  is  unparalleled  in  any 
white  race.  The  world  knows  nothing  like  it. 
He  has  an  ingrained  reverence  for  discipline  that 
is  also  peculiar  to  himself.  This  finds  expres- 
sion in  a  superlatively  slavish  and  continuously 
abject  subserviency  to  his  priests  and  chiefs  and 
kings.  This  characteristic  is  one  of  weakness, 
but  on  account  of  its  very  weakness  it  endows 
the  negro  with  a  tremendous  source  of  potential 
strength.  It  unalterably  fixes  his  destiny  in  the 
hands  of  his  native  rulers.  If  they  are  wise  the 
negro  race,  however  imbecile  in  itself,  will  do 
wise  things  should  its  rulers  so  direct.  The 
tribesman  will  blindly  obey  to  life  or  to  death. 
It  all  depends  on  the  negro  potentates  what  the 
issue  will  be — continued  subjection  to  white 
dominion  or  emancipation  into  independent 

15 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

sovereignity.  To  proceed,  the  negro  is  by  no 
means  an  imbecile.  His  mental  development 
has  undoubtedly  been  arrested.  For  many  ages 
he  has  lived  like  a  little  child,  perfectly  unam- 
bitionless  of  self  improvement.  But  that  fact 
proves  little  except  that -he  has  lacked  a  sufficient 
spur  to  develop  his  capacities.  The  question 
arises — Does  he  possess  capacities  that  are  sus- 
ceptible to  material  improvement?  The  answer 
to  that  is  clear.  Experience  is  our  respondent. 
Experience  both  in  S.  Africa  and  in  America 
has  indisputably  demonstrated  that  the  negro 
has  a  brain  which  is  capable  of  immense  develop- 
ment. With  a  very  little  scientific  instruction 
the  average  negro  becomes  a  skilled  and  dex- 
terous craftsman  in  every  branch  of  industrial 
technique.  There  is  no  trade  beyond  his  ability 
to  master.  He  is  equally  good  as  a  gold  miner, 
a  cabinet  maker,  and  a  compositor.  He  prefers 
always  to  work  out  of  doors,  but  when  put  to  it 
he  will  render  good  service  in  the  machine  room. 
As  a  scholar  he  learns  to  read  and  write  fluently 
with  astonishing  rapidity  and  ease.  Of  late 
years  the  entire  negro  population  of  S.  Africa 
has  become  infected  with  an  enthusiasm  for 
education  which  amounts  to  a  craze.  It  is  the 

16 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

subject  of  universal  comment  in  the  Union  and 
the  whites  regard  the  phenomenon  with  a  grow- 
ing sense  of  uneasy  dissatisfaction.  They  do 
not  understand  it;  what  does  the  portent  mean? 
The  negro  schools  are  crowded  with  pupils. 
There  are  many  more  black  than  white  children 
attending  the  public  schools.  The  negro  arti- 
sans all  over  the  sub-continent  spend  half  their 
leisure  poring  over  A.B.C.'s  and  primers.  Even 
the  house  servants  have  caught  the  fever  and 
neglect  their  duty  to  their  masters  to  teach  them- 
selves the  three  R's.  When  in  Bulawayo  I  was 
the  guest  of  an  English  lady  who  had  five  black 
servants.  She  rang  the  bell  for  afternoon  tea. 
There  was  no  response.  She  rang  again  and 
more  insistently :  still  no  response.  She  smiled 
mysteriously  and  beckoned  me  to  follow  her  into 
the  passage.  Behind  a  curtain  at  the  end  of  the 
hall  we  found  two  burly  squatting  negros  abso- 
lutely immersed  in  the  study  of  an  infant's 
alphabet  book.  I  had  a  very  similar  experience 
at  Bloemfontein.  At  Johannesburg  and  at 
Capetown  a  favorite  item  of  domestic  gossip 
concerned  the  mysterious  absorption  of  the 
Kaffirs  in  education.  I  heard  the  topic  discussed 
wherever  I  went.  At  the  Zambesi  River  the 

17 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

steward  on  my  train  had  occasion  to  employ  an 
assistant  in  the  kitchen.  He  secured  a  young 
black  boy  of  about  1 2  years  of  age,  a  Barotse,  who 
came  from  a  kraal  north  of  Livingstone.  The 
lad  knew  not  a  single  word  of  English  when  he 
joined  the  train,  but  a  iew  days  later  when  we 
reached  Johannesburg  he  could  understand  sim- 
plicities and  make  himself  clearly  understood. 
One  of  our  party  gave  him  6d.  to  buy  sweetmeats. 
The  child  spent  the  money  instead  on  a  gorgeous 
A.B.C.,  and  when  we  resumed  our  journey  he 
was  a  public  nuisance,  for  he  shirked  his  duty 
and  did  little  save  pester  us  to  teach  him  to  read. 
Just  before  finally  quitting  the  train  I  got  this 
lad  in  my  cabin  and  put  him  to  question.  Why 
was  he  so  anxious  to  learn  how  to  read?  He 
did  not  know.  Who  put  the  idea  into  his 
head?  No  answer.  His  father?  He  shook  his 
head.  His  mother?  The  boy  laughed  disdain- 
fully. His  chief?  The  lad's  eyes  flashed. 
'  Yes.  Inkoos,"  he  replied  decisively.  "  My 
chief — he  tell  um  what  um  do.  Me  do  him 
quick.  C.A.T.  cat.  That  fellow  right.  Inkoos?" 
Straws  show  how  the  wind  blows.  But  I  was  far 
from  being  satisfied.  I  wanted  something  more 
definite.  Enquiring  on  all  hands  I  met  with 

18 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

some  indifference,  much  positive  ignorance,  a 
vast  deal  of  fanciful  assertion  :  but  at  length  a 
journalist  supplied  me  with  a  vital  hint.  "  Nearly 
all  the  big  chiefs'  sons  are  educated  abroad. 
They  come  back  with  ideas  ? "  Where  could 
one  such  returned  student  emigrant  be  found? 
A  dozen  names  and  addresses  were  forthcoming. 
I  chose  the  nearest  address  and  made  a  special 
journey  to  the  spot.  I  may  not  specify  the  place 
nor  name  the  man,  but  am  under  no  other  pledge. 
At  my  journey's  end  was  a  decent  house,  half 
bungalow,  half  villa,  surrounded  with  an  infant 
garden  trimly  paled.  I  knocked  at  the  hall  door 
and  presented  my  letter  of  introduction  to  a 
suave,  white-smocked  Hindoo.  I  was  shown 
into  a  smoking  room  furnished  with  comfortable 
leather  covered  lounge  chairs  and  a  galaxy  of 
fixed  and  turning  bookshelves.  Large  colored 
portraits  (prints)  in  gilt  frames  of  the  King  and 
Queen  graced  the  mantelpiece.  At  one  end  of 
the  apartment  was  a  table  littered  with  filed 
papers  and  piled  with  works  of  reference  from 
Whittaker  to  Who's  Who.  Such  a  table  might 
be  found  in  any  sub-editor's  office  in  the  United 
Kingdom.  A  nattily  dressed  Kaffir  servant 
(who  was  probably  a  Zulu)  brought  me  a  decanter 

19 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

of  spirit  and  a  soda  syphon  on  a  tray.  "  Funa 
Manzi,"  I  remarked.  He  produced  iced  water 
in  a  twinkling.  Left  to  myself  I  examined  the 
bookshelves  and  was  mildly  astonished  to  find 
Herbert  Spencer  rubbing  shoulders  with  Paul 
de  Kock  and  Guy  de  Maupassant :  Kant,  Fichte 
and  Neitzche  separated  by  Zola,  Boccacio  and 
Casanova :  and  Adam  Smith,  Bacon,  John  Stuart 
Mill,  Comte  and  Marcus  Aurelius  indiscrimin- 
ately sandwiched  between  the  bawdiest  novelists 
of  the  last  two  centuries.  Not  many  minutes 
later  I  was  shaking  the  hand  of  a  tall  negro  clad 
in  white  flannel  trousers,  a  black  silk  cummer- 
band  and  a  scarlet  blazer.  I  noticed  that  he 
tendered  me  his  hand  with  diffidence,  but  on  my 
alacritous  response  his  hesitation  vanished  and 
his  grasp  was  cordial  to  the  point  of  friendliness. 
The  man's  coal  black  face  was  good  humoured 
and  intelligent.  His  voice  particularly  im- 
pressed me.  It  was  sonorous  but  beautifully 
modulated  and  full  of  deep  toned  music.  His 
greeting  was  European  in  expression  but  tropic 
in  intensity.  He  spoke  perfect  English  as 
known  to  cultured  Americans,  but  subtly  accented 
as  to  certain  words  with  the  fascinating  Bantu 
click.  We  were  very  soon  on  excellent  terms. 

20 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

Made  aware  of  my  quest  he  promised  to  answer 
all  my  questions  freely  on  one  condition,  that  his 
identity  should  not  be  demonstrated.  Short- 
hand notes  enable  me  to  reproduce  the  conver- 
sation with  exactitude.  "  I  understand  that  you 
are  a  man  of  influence  among  your  people,"  I 
suggested. 

"  When  my  father  dies  I  shall  be  chief,"  he 
replied. 

"Chief  of  many?" 

"  There  are  thirty  thousand  kraals  in  my 
father's  kingdom." 

'  You  were  educated  abroad  ?  " 

"  Yes,  at  -  University.  I  graduated  with 
third  class  honours  in  -  " 

"  Is  yours  an  exceptional  case  ?  " 

"  I  am  not  the  only  college  graduate  in  my 
tribe  —  there  is  one  other  now  in  Africa.  Still 
another  of  my  people  at  this  moment  is  studying 


"  And  in  other  tribes  ?  " 

'  The  movement  is  becoming  general  and 
grows  apace." 

"  How  many  educated  negroes  would  you  say 
the  movement  has  already  produced  ?  " 

"  Some  hundred  or  so.     Perhaps  two  hundred, 

21 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

perhaps  three.*  It  is  guess  work.  True  figures 
are  not  available.  But  I  can  tell  you  that  the 
need  of  education  has  long  since  appealed  to  all 
our  head  men — speaking  of  us  as  a  nation." 

"A  nation?" 

"  Why  not,  sir  ?     Are  we  not  a  nation  ?  " 

"  Nationality  implies  cohesion,  also  an  articu- 
late and  definite  sense  of  nationality — a  common 
purpose  and  common  aims  intelligently  shared 
in  unison.  Have  you  that?  " 

My  host  threw  out  his  arms  excitedly.  '  We 
begin  to  acquire  it.  We  begin,"  he  cried.  "  Per- 
haps in  the  real  sense  we  are  not  a  nation  yet. 
The  kraals  are  dull  and  sleep.  But  the  chiefs 
are  awake  and  active.  We  know  what  we  want 
and  are  working  towards  our  goal.  The  chiefs 
are  everything.  You  who  know  us  little  will  not 
easily  comprehend.  But  all  depends  on  us — on 
us.  (He  struck  his  breast.)  What  the  kraals  do 

*  On  December  igth,  1910,  a  debate  took  place  in  the  Senate  of 
the  Union  on  the  question  of  providing  higher  education  for  negroes 
in  South  Africa.  In  the  course  of  the  discussion  Senators  Stanford, 
Shreiner  and  Campbell  pointed  out  that  "  considerable  numbers  "  of 
natives  are  emigrating  to  other  countries  in  search  of  higher  edu- 
cation and  returning  "with  ideas  of  social  and  political  equality," 
and  the  Minister  of  Education  was  strongly  urged  to  grapple  with 
the  problem.  The  Minister  made  a  temporising  reply. — Debates  of 
the  Senate,  page  157. 

22 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

is  nothing.  What  we  think,  what  we  say,  what 
we  do — that  is  what  counts  and  is  important, 
for  the  kraals  will  follow  and  obey.  We  are  the 
brain,  they  are  the  body.  The  brain  is  master. 
That  is  right." 

"  But  can  a  nation  endure  which " 

"  Sir,  the  chiefs  are  not  fools.  We  realise  the 
need  of  universal  education  but  an  education 
strictly  limited  in  quality.  It  is  essential  to  in- 
struct the  rabble  to  a  certain  point,  but  not 
beyond.  To  read  and  write — that  is  enough. 
We  are  students  of  history.  Some  of  us  are 
philosophers ."  He  pointed  to  his  book- 
shelves. 

1  The  white  people,"  said  I,  "  complain  that 
too  many  natives  are  seeking  to  educate  them- 
selves." 

'  Would  they  keep  my  people  ignorant  and 
dumb  for  ever?  "  His  eyes  flashed  angrily  and 
he  bared  his  splendid  teeth.  I  expected  an  out- 
burst, but  he  controlled  himself.  "  They  can- 
not," he  laughed.  "  The  word  has  been  spoken. 
It  will  not  be  recalled."  He  spoke  conclusively. 

"  Am  I  to  understand,  then,  that  the  kraals  are 
learning  the  white  man's  lore  at  the  bidding  of 
the  chiefs?" 

23 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  Undoubtedly." 

"  But  will  it  help  you  that  the  kraals  shall  learn 
to  read?  To  read  is  to  think?" 

"  Not  so,  but  to  think  of  what  one  reads." 

"  And  will  you  put  bonds  upon  the  reading  of 
your  people  ?  " 

"  Sir,  you  dream.  The  trouble  will  be  to  in- 
duce them  to  read  enough  of  what  we  shall  give 
them." 

"  Ah  !  You  aspire,  then,  to  supply  them  with 
reading  matter  : — a  native  Press?  " 

"Why  not?" 

"  Newspapers  are  costly  institutions." 

"  Sir,  I  know  a  dozen  chiefs  whose  incomes 
run  to  great  sums.  Myself,  I  am  not  a  pauper. 
The  Press  is  a  great  power,  a  great  instrument  to 
form  opinion,  sentiment,  a  sense  of  nationality — 
to  organise  emancipation.  But  rest  assured,  sir, 
our  ambitions  are  peaceful  and  perfectly  legiti- 
mate according  to  your  strictest  laws." 

"  Indeed !  Would  you  be  so  courteous  as  to 
define  them  ?  " 

'  This  country  once  belonged  to  us.  Essen- 
tially it  is  ours  still.  We  outnumber  you  as  six 
to  one :  but  we  are  serfs.  You  give  us  freely 
none  but  mean  and  dirty  work  to  do.  You  ex- 

24 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

elude  us  from  Parliament  and  the  public  service. 
You  deny  us  the  suffrage.  You  coop  us  up  in 
compounds  without  your  cities.  You  walk  on 
the  footpaths  :  you  force  us  to  tread  the  roads. 
You  are  Christians  and  preach  in  your  churches 
that  all  men  are  equal  in  the  sight  of  God  who 
made  us.  Yet  you  exclude  us  from  the  churches 
which  are  God's  Houses  and  wherein  equality 
should  reign ;  you  spit  upon  our  color  and  repudi- 
ate our  rights.  I  tell  you,  sir,  we  are  quickly 
becoming  a  nation  because  of  what  you  do  to  us. 
Our  nationality  will  be  a  nationality  of  color. 
You  ask  what  is  our  ambition.  I  will  tell  you. 
It  is  to  live  and  work  in  the  country  that  belongs 
to  us  as  the  social  equals  and  political  peers  of 
the  white  men.  There  are  those  who  say  that 
our  aspiration  spells  war.  I  am  not  of  them. 
But  I  am  no  prophet.  I  confess  it  freely.  All 
I  can  do  to  prevent  violence  I  shall." 
"  But  if  violence  cannot  be  prevented  ?  " 
"  Sir,  I  beg  you  to  excuse  me.  I  will  not  admit 
the  proposition.  I  am  a  loyal  British  subject. 
The  Englishman  makes  mistakes,  but  in  his  heart 
he  is  just.  Your  people  in  a  little  time  will  see 
and  confess  the  justice  of  our  cause.  They  will 
help  us.  Do  you  think  me  over  sanguine  ?  " 

25 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  Yes." 

"  Will  you  tell  me  frankly  why  ?  Do  not  fear 
to  hurt  my  feelings.  We  are  talking  heart  to 
heart  and  I  have  shown  you  all  that  is  in  my 
mind." 

Thus  adjured,  I  answered  candidly :  "  There 
is  a  phrase  fathered  by  ethnologists  which  passes 
muster  as  an  axiom  among  the  whites.  They 
say  the  negro  is  the  supreme  type  of  arrested  de- 
velopment. They  regard  your  people  as  their 
irredeemable  natural  inferiors.  I  think  it  will 
not  be  easy  while  such  an  opinion  exists  for  the 
whites  to  admit  the  blacks  to  be  their  peers.  A 
prejudice  of  barbarism  intervenes." 

My  host  gravely  shook  his  head.  "  What  you 
say  is  true,"  he  said.  "  The  prejudice  is  there. 
But  it  is  not  unconquerable.  It  cannot  be;  be- 
cause it  is  a  false  judgment  and  all  false  judg- 
ments must  eventually  die  and  disappear." 

"  You  claim,  then,  that  the  black  man  is  not 
irredeemably  inferior  to  the  white  man  ?  " 

"  I  do.  I  confess  freely  that  in  his  present 
state  the  negro  is  a  cycle  behind  the  white  man. 
But  his  capacities  of  development  are  infinite. 
He  has  the  world  and  eternity  before  him.  I 
admit  that  he  requires  a  constant  spur  to  keep 

26 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

progressing  and  to  prevent  him  from  going  back. 
But  you  whites  have  given  him  that  spur.  Under 
your  rule  he  has  been  given  a  security  of  life  that 
has  caused  him  to  increase  enormously  and  he 
must  adopt  your  industrial  and  cultural  arts  in 
order  to  feed  himself.  More  and  more  will  this 
be  necessary  as  time  goes  on.  He  is  becoming 
more  closely  pushed  every  day.  He  knows  it. 
His  chiefs  saw  it  long  ago.  The  future  of  the 
black  man  depends  on  self-assertion.  He  is  be- 
ginning to  organise  in  a  way  never  before 
dreamed  of.  One  of  these  days  he  will  surprise 
the  world." 

"  Is  your  ultimate  ideal  self  government  ?  " 
"  Let  me  quote  you  a  passage  from  Mill  that 
I  know  by  heart.  Lots  of  us  black  men  know  it 
by  heart,  although  you  whites  have  forgotten  it. 
It  is  a  passage  that  will  some  day  be  painted  in 
letters  of  fire  across  the  African  firmament. 
Listen  :  '  The  government  of  a  people  by  itself 
'  has  a  meaning  and  a  reality,  but  such  a  thing  as 
'  the  government  of  one  people  by  another  does 
'  not  and  cannot  exist.  Either  a  people  governs 
'  itself  or  that  people  has  no  real  government  but 
'  only  a  system  of  provisional  administration/ 
That  is  my  answer  to  your  question,  sir." 

27 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  One  final  question,  Mr. .  How  long 

do  you  propose  to  put  up  with  the  present  system 
of  what  I  suppose  you  would  call  '  provisional 
administration  '  ?  " 

"  Not  an  hour  longer  than  we  can  help,  sir.  As 
we  become  progressively  educated  and  organised 
— I  speak  of  my  people  in  the  mass — we  shall 
progressively  demand  our  rights.  That  is  our 
policy  in  a  nutshell." 

The  inquisition  at  an  end,  curiosity  and  an 
underlying  sense  of  distrust  prompted  me  to  re- 
mark speculatively  upon  the  astonishing  frank- 
ness of  my  host.  It  was  the  signal  for  a  storm  of 
indignation.  He  assured  me  that  he  and  his  con- 
geners were  always  ready  and  willing  to  talk 
candidly  about  their  cause  and  purposes  and  mis- 
sion with  the  whites.  But  the  whites  held  dis- 
dainfully aloof  and  contumeliously  ignored  them. 
He  complained  mordantly  that  there  was  a  tacit 
conspiracy  among  the  ruling  whites  to  treat  the 
negro  educational  movement  as  an  evanescent 
and  elusive  shadow,  and  educated  negroes  as 
dime-shows  and  monstrosities.  He  was  a  Uni- 
versity man,  a  person  of  culture  and  refinement, 
fit  to  meet  any  white  gentleman  on  his  own 
ground,  yet  the  whole  white  race  shunned  him 

28 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

and  despised  him.  Did  he  venture  to  stroll 
through  the  city  he  would  have  to  march  along 
the  road  like  a  horse — the  pavement  being 
rigidly  forbidden  him.  He  wound  up  by  assur- 
ing me  that  I  was  the  first  white  man  in  Africa 
who  had  condescended  to  shake  him  by  the  hand, 
and  he  warned  me  that  I  would  be  violently 
censured  and  abused  if  the  fact  were  made 
known.  Subsequently  I  tested  these  statements 
and  I  cannot  say  they  were  in  any  great  wise 
exaggerations  of  the  truth.  v  All  over  South 
Africa  I  found  the  whites  animated  with  an  im- 
placable determination  to  keep  the  blacks  under 
foot — to  treat  them  as  sub-humans.  Public 
opinion  regards  any  white  who  would  stoop  to 
friendly  intercourse  with  any  black  as  something 
very  like  a  public  enemy.  Public  opinion,  how- 
ever, is  divided  into  two  planes.  The  Boers  look 
upon  the  blacks  as  unruly  animals  who  must  be 
kept  in  their  proper  place  by  brute  force  and 
the  sjambok.  The  British  also  look  upon  them  as 
animals,  but  counsel  milder  measures  and  eschew 
the  whip.  The  difference  is  really  rather  one  of 
policy  rather  than  of  belief,  and  it  arises  from 
temperament.  The  Boer  has  a  cruel  heart.  He 
beats  his  horse  indifferently  when  he  should  and 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

when  he  should  not.  The  Britisher  only  beats 
his  horse  when  punishment  seems  unavoid- 
able. 

My  clearest-cut  impression  of  the  chief's  son 
has  yet  to  be  recorded.  In  response  to  a  slipped 
word  that  I  had  wished  at  once  but  of  course  in 
vain  to  have  retracted  (the  hearing  of  the  negro 
is  marvellously  acute),  he  started  afoot  and  began 
to  pace  the  floor  rapidly  yet  restrainedly,  like  a 
wild  animal  angry  but  always  conscious  that  its 
cage  has  iron  bars.  I  watched  him  somewhat 
anxiously,  yet  filled  with  admiration  at  the  sinu- 
ous strength  of  him,  the  grace  and  majesty  of  his 
stride,  the  statuesque  beauty  of  his  swift  un- 
studied attitudes.  Of  a  sudden  he  stopped  and 
faced  me,  pouring  out  a  flood  of  scornful  protest. 
"  You  think  the  negro  has  no  message  for  man- 
kind," he  said.  "  And  why  ?  Because  he  has 
been  dumb?  Because  he  has  no  history?  You 
do  not  know  the  negro.  You  do  not  even  under- 
stand your  own  conceited,  white  skinned  race. 
Until  you  had  a  language  could  you  have  had  a 
Chaucer,  a  Spencer  or  a  Byron?  The  negro  is 
not  literate — yet.  What  is  the  supremest  type  of 
intellect — the  poet?  We  have  no  poets.  We 
have  no  language.  We  study  yours.  It  is  a 

30 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

foreign  tongue  to  us,  but  it  will  liberate  our  minds. 
Listen  to  these  lines — 

"  *  Know  you  winds  that  blow  your  course 

Down  the  verdant  valleys, 
That,    somewhere,   you   must  perforce 

Kiss  the  brow  of  Alice? 
When  her  gentle  face  you  find 

Kiss  it  softly,  naughty  wind.' 

"  Is  not  that  a  dainty  verse  ?     Listen  again — 

"  '  Out  of  the  sunshine  and  out  of  the  heat, 

Out  of  the  dust  of  the  grimy  street, 
A  song  fluttered  down  in  the  form  of  a  dove 

And  it  bore  me  a  message,  the  one  word — Love. 
"  '  Ah  !  I  was  toiling  and  oh  !  I  was  sad : 

I  had  forgotten  the  way  to  be  glad 
Now,  smiles  for  my  sadness  and  for  my  toil  rest — 
Since  the  dove  fluttered  down  to  its  home  in  my  breast.' 

"  Keats  would  not  have  felt  disgraced  to  have 
been  named  the  author  of  that  verse,  I  think. 
"  Another !     It  is  called  '  Night '  :— 

"  '  Silence  and  whirling  worlds  afar 

Through  all-encircling  skies, 
What  floods  come  o'er  the  spirit's  bar 

What  wondrous  thoughts  arise. 
"  '  The  Earth,  a  mantle,  falls  away, 
And,  winged,  we  leave  the  sod : 
Where  shines  in  its  eternal  sway 
The  majesty  of  God.' 

'  Your  face,  sir,  is  a  question.  Yes,  I  shall 
answer  it.  The  fragments  I  have  recited  to  you 
are  from  a  book  of  poems  which  was  hailed  by 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

William  Dean  Howells  as  a  '  human  event/  a 
'  human  event/  Yes,  yes,  the  writer  was  Paul 
Lawrence  Dunbar,  a  full  blooded  African  negro, 
a  Bantu,  born  in  America — educated — mark  me, 
educated — the  son,  too,,  of  an  educated  man." 

He  paused,  drawing  himself  up  to  his  full 
height,  with  a  pride  that  almost  touched  mag- 
nificence, then  he  said  impressively — "  Here, 
sir,  in  Africa  we  have  no  second — educated — 
generation,  yet.  We  play  the  ape — yet.  We 
are  imitators — yet.  But  wait  a  bit.  Give  us 
time,  a  little  time,  and  you  will  see  that  we  can 
profit  by  instruction.  I  say,  I  say,  I  say — the 
negro  has  his  message.  I  say  it.  He  has  his 
message  and  he  will  speak  it.  Ah !  but  you  had 
nearly  angered  me !  "  His  voice  lowered  to  a 
sort  of  croon.  "  Listen  once  more,  sir,  please,  to 
my  poet's  truthful  picture  of  the  negro's  present 
state  and  future  fate — 

"  '  It  is  still  a  little  dark  with  him,  but  there  are  warnings  of  the 

day, 

'  And   somewhere  out  of   the   darkness   a  bird   is  singing   to   the 
dawn. ' 

"  A  full  blooded  negro,  sir — a  Bantu  !  May  all 
the  Gods  of  Heaven  bless  him !  He  has  given 
Hope  and  an  Ideal  to  the  whole  negro  race." 

32 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   BLACK   MENACE 

'THHE  hope  of  the  black  race  and  the  centre  of 
all  negro  inspiration,  intrigue  and  activity 
is  Basutoland.  This  province  is  in  every 
possible  political  sense  an  anomaly  and  an 
enigma.  It  lies  near  the  heart  of  the  South 
African  Union :  it  comprises  much  of  the  best 
agricultural  land  in  South  Africa :  it  is  sur- 
rounded on  every  side  by  the  white  man's  terri- 
tory ;  yet  to  all  intents  and  purposes  it  is  an  inde- 
pendent negro  State.  Basutoland  has  an  area 
of  about  10,300  square  miles.  It  is  bounded  on 
the  South  by  Cape  Colony,  on  the  East  by 
Natal,  and  on  the  North  and  West  by  the  Orange 
River  Colony.  In  shape  and  configuration  it  is 
a  fortress.  The  Drakensburg  Mountains  but- 

33 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

tress  its  eastern  and  southern  borders.  Its 
northern  frontage  is  defended  by  the  precipitous 
Maluti  range,  and  its  western  frontiers  are  pro- 
tected by  a  score  of  spurs  and  rugged  chains. 
Rising  like  a  gargantuan  Gibraltar  from  the 
lower  circumscribing  levels,  its  top  is  a  magnifi- 
cently fertile  table  land,  with  a  mean  height  of 
6,000  feet  above  the  sea.  On  this  table  land 
reside  some  360,000  Basutos,  the  most  intelligent 
of  all  the  colored  peoples  of  the  continent.  In 
all  the  territory  there  are  fewer  than  1,000  whites. 
The  country  belongs  exclusively  to  the  Basutos. 
They  acknowledge  the  suzerainty  of  Britain 
(King  George  is  represented  by  an  Imperial 
Commissioner,  who  resides  at  Maseru,  the 
capital),  but  the  native  chiefs  administer  their 
own  affairs  and  they  owe  no  allegiance  to  the 
South  African  Union  Government.  Save  for  the 
slender  tie  which  binds  them  to  Britain  they  are 
an  absolutely  autonomous  and  independent 
community.  The  province  is  the  one  place  in 
South  Africa  where  the  black  man's  power  is  un- 
questioned and  supreme.  It  is  the  only  part  of 
interior  South  Africa  blessed  with  a  consistently 
temperate,  healthy  and  stimulating  climate.  No 
white  man  is  allowed  into  the  territory  except  as 

34 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

a  special  act  of  grace,  and  no  white  man  can  re- 
main beyond  a  certain  time  except  with  the  ex- 
press permission  of  the  chiefs.  The  Basuto 
system  of  government  is  a  curious  admixture  of 
socialism  and  patriarchalism.  Land  is  divided 
on  the  communal  principle  and  is  inalienable. 
Individual  proprietorship  in  real  property  is 
against  the  rule.  Moveable  property  is  prac- 
tically subject  to  individual  ownership,  but  in 
theory  everything  belongs  to  the  chiefs,  to  whom 
the  natives  pay  fief  for  their  possessions.  Many 
of  the  chiefs  are  enormously  rich :  they  are  all 
wealthy  and  powerful  men.  The  chief  para- 
mount is  loyally  reverenced  by  his  subordinates 
and  in  his  hands  is  focussed  the  entire  strength 
of  the  nation.  The  tribesmen  pay  him  the 
homage  due  to  a  demi-god.  He  administers  life 
and  death  and  is  blindly  obeyed — worshipped 
one  might  say.  On  the  whole  the  government 
of  the  province  is  wise  and  liberal.  The  chiefs 
do  everything  in  their  power  to  encourage  indus- 
trial progress  and  the  arts  of  civilization.  There 
are  three  great  industrial  institutions*  in  the 

*  On  February  32nd,  1911,  Senator  Byron  spoke  concerning  the 
Basutos  in  the  Union  Senate  as  follows  : — "  It  would,  I  think,  sur- 
prise non-members  to  see  what  clever,  intelligent  and  industrious 
native  workmen  are  being  turned  out  from  the  industrial  schools  in 

35 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

province  run  by  white  and  native  missionaries 
and  about  260  public  schools,  subsidised  by  the 
Government,  which  are  attended  daily  by  some 
13,000  negro  children.  Every  year  the  chiefs 
send  a  number  of  picked  scholars  abroad  to  be 
educated  at  foreign  colleges  and  universities  at 
the  public  cost.  These  scholars  return  to  be 
local  schoolmasters  and  to  carry  over  all  South 
Africa  the  light  of  the  white  man's  learning. 
Maseru,  the  capital  city  of  Basutoland,  is  con- 
nected by  railway  with  the  O.R.C.,  but  there  are 
no  other  railways  in  the  province.  The  chiefs 
have  a  prejudice  against  railways,  but  they  main- 
tain excellent  roads,  and  all  the  towns  are  con- 
nected with  the  telegraph  and  served  with 

Basutoland.  I  live  close  beside  that  country  and  I  confess  that  the 
progress  of  many  of  the  Basutos  gives  one  much  room  for  thought. 
There  are  already  many  of  this  race  and  their  number  is  increasing 
to  whom  it  would  be  absurd  to  apply  the  four  to  one  factor  [of 
efficiency]  with  respect  to  the  whites.  We  cannot  deny  the  fact  that 
the  native  can  readily  and  relatively  make  greater  strides  towards 
progress  than  the  white.  Therefore  it  would  seem  that  we  cannot 
hope  to  retain  our  present  position  and  our  determination  to  make 
this  country  a  suitable  home  for  white  men  unless  we  endeavour  to 
restore  the  balance  in  our  favor  by  greater  numbers  recruited  from 
oversea.  Relatively  the  natives  are  advancing  more  rapidly  than  we 
are.  A  veneer  of  civilisation  that  would  not  last  may  deceive  or 
stimulate  some  Chaka  or  Moshesh  of  the  future,  and  if,  unfortunately, 
there  should  arise  a  life  and  death  contest  between  the  races,  Provi- 
dence as  ever  will  incline  to  the  side  of  the  big  battalions." — Debates 
of  the  Senate,  1910-1911,  pages  193-194. 

36 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

telephones.  The  British  system  of  currency  has 
long  since  displaced  the  primeval  method  of 
barter.  Savings  banks  abound.  The  black 
population  is  thrifty  and  industrious.  Agricul- 
ture is  the  principal  industry,  but  manufacture  is 
steadily  increasing.  The  outstanding  feature  of 
the  industrial  life  of  Basutoland  consists  in  the 
rapidly  developing  popularity  of  new  methods. 
The  Basutos  are  putting  their  old  savage  life 
behind  them  with  a  celerity  and  unanimity  be- 
yond praise.  Their  foreign  trade  is  expanding 
by  leaps  and  bounds.  They  export  horses, 
cattle,  wool,  wheat,  mealies,  hides  and  mohair. 
In  exchange  they  import  iron,  agricultural  imple- 
ments and  machinery  of  the  latest  types,  groceries 
and  large  quantities  of  clothes.  The  nation  is 
becoming  more  notably  Europeanised  every  day. 
The  old  style  of  huts  is  giving  place  to  well 
built  houses  :  the  kraals  are  beginning  to  wear 
the  appearance  of  civilised  towns  and  modern 
sanitary  methods  are  gradually  coming  into 
vogue. 

Taking  all  things  into  consideration  it  can- 
not be  denied  that  the  Basutos  deserve  the 
name  of  a  nation.  Their  sense  of  nationality  is 
strong  and  well  defined.  They  cherish  their 

37 

55307 


independence  above  wealth  and  life  itself.  They 
have  an  army,  and  above  all  they  have  a  history 
— short  perhaps,  but  not  inglorious.  This 
branch  of  the  Bantu  race  took  possession  of  the 
table  land  in  1820,  wresting  it  from  the  aboriginal 
Bushmen,  whom  they  .well  nigh  exterminated. 
The  usurping  invaders  were  led  by  a  chief  named 
Moshesh,  a  man  of  extraordinary  bravery,  talent 
and  resource.  Moshesh  instantly  divined  the 
wonderful  natural  strength  and  the  climatic  and 
agricultural  advantages  of  the  country,  and  he 
determined  to  keep  it  and  build  there  a  stable, 
self-supporting  nation.  But  he  was  not  allowed 
to  work  in  peace.  Chaka,  the  famous  Zulu  king, 
had  long  coveted  the  table  land,  and  the  inter- 
vention of  Moshesh  threw  him  into  a  furv.  He 

t 

declared  war  upon  the  Basutos  and  marched 
against  them  with  a  powerful  army.  The  war 
lasted  nearly  four  years  and  was  decided  by  the 
battle  of  Thaba  Bosigo,  in  which  Chaka  was 
overwhelmingly  defeated.  From  that  time  until 
about  1850  the  Basutos  were  left  comparatively 
undisturbed.  They  then  came  into  collision 
successively  with  the  Boers,  the  Zulus,  and  the 
British.  The  military  genius  of  Moshesh 
enabled  him  to  defeat  the  Zulus  and  the  Boers, 

38 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

and  in  1852  he  crushingly  repulsed  the  attack 
of  the  British  forces  under  Sir  George  Cathcart. 
But  Moshesh  was  far  too  clever  a  man  to  take 
comfort  from  his  latest  victory.  He  knew  the 
British  well,  and  foreseeing  disaster  he  turned 
promptly  from  arms  to  diplomacy.  The  able 
manner  in  which  he  succeeded  in  conciliating 
Britain  constitutes  one  of  the  most  notable  and 
dramatic  features  of  South  African  history.  The 
Boers  were  his  next  assailants.  In  1858  they 
declared  war  upon  him  and  invaded  the  table 
land.  The  campaign  lasted  ten  years.  In  1865 
Moshesh  defeated  and  killed  General  Wepener 
in  a  pitched  battle  at  the  hill  of  Thaba  Bosigo 
(where  he  had  formerly  routed  Chaka)  and  he 
drove  the  Boers  over  the  border.  The  Boers, 
however,  soon  returned  in  augmented  strength 
to  the  assault,  and  after  three  more  years  of  de- 
sultory fighting  Moshesh  saw  all  his  forces 
exhausted  and  he  was  brought  face  to  face  with 
ruin.  In  this  crisis  he  suddenly  offered  his 
country  to  Britain  as  a  fief  of  the  Imperial 
Crown.  The  offering  was  accepted,  and  the 
Boers  were  compelled  to  retire.  Moshesh  died 
soon  afterwards  and  was  buried  on  the  scene  of 
his  two  greatest  victories.  The  Basutos  wor- 

39 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

ship  his  memory  and  always  will.  Subsequently, 
in  1871,  Basutoland  was  annexed  to  Cape 
Colony:  but  in  1879  the  natives  rebelled  against 
the  Colonial  rule.  The  war  lasted  two  years. 
The  Colonial  forces  were  generally  victorious, 
but  they  failed  to  reduce  the  rebels,  and  the  dis- 
pute was  finally  settled  by  arbitration.  In 
1883  the  Imperial  Government  once  more  took 
over  the  country  from  Cape  Colony,  and  ever 
since  then  the  Basutos  have  dwelt  more  or  less 
contentedly  under  the  protection  of  Great 
Britain.  Really  their  subjection  is  nominal 
only,  and  none  knows  this  better  than  themselves. 
During  the  late  Boer-British  war  they  remained 
perfectly  neutral,  but  they  were  always  ready  to 
take  arms  at  a  moment's  notice,  and  the  Boers 
were  extremely  careful  to  refrain  from  giving 
them  any  excuse  for  intervention. 

I  come  now  to  a  piece  of  their  history  which — 
to  my  knowledge — has  not  before  been  published. 
When  the  idea  of  South  African  Union  swam 
into  the  sphere  of  practical  politics  the  Basutos 
were  profoundly  disturbed.  They  conceived  it 
probable  that  the  white  Colonists  would  attempt 
to  include  Basutoland  as  a  political  part  and 
parcel  of  the  projected  new  Dominion,  and  they 

40 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

began  to  tremble  for  their  treasured  integrity 
and  independence.  I  am  unable  to  say  whether 
or  not  the  statesmen  of  South  Africa  who 
formed  the  Union  were  actually  ambitious  of 
taking  over  Basutoland  from  Britain,  for  this 
is  a  subject  on  which  South  African  politicians 
maintain  a  diplomatic  silence  :  but  it  is  clear  that 
the  Basutos  thought  sa  The  chiefs  protested 
with  energy  to  the  Resident  Imperial  High 
Commissioner,  and  demanded  and  received  assur- 
ances that  their  treaty  rights  with  Britain  would 
be  preserved.  Every  possible  effort  was  made 
to  soothe  their  anxiety  and  allay  their  appre- 
hensions, but  with  inconspicuous  success.  The 
people  remained  uneasy  and  the  chiefs  made 
quiet  preparations  for  eventualities.  Some  three 
or  four  days  before  the  Union  was  proclaimed 
almost  every  Zulu  servant  in  the  O.R.C.  sud- 
denly vacated  his  employment.  Some  of  the 
boys  made  fictitious  excuses;  others  frankly  ex- 
plained that  they  were  wanted  at  their  kraals; 
many  said  nothing.  All  disappeared.  Dr. 
Ward,  of  Bloemfontein,  a  leading  citizen  and 
publicist  of  the  O.R.C.,  told  me  that  he  strenu- 
ously endeavoured  to  prevent  the  departure  of 
one  of  his  favourite  servants,  but  failed.  The 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

man's  chief  had  mysteriously  sent  for  him,  and 
physical  compulsion  only  could  have  kept  him  in 
the  city.  On  the  Basutoland  plateau,  mean- 
while, many  thousands  of  natives  stood  to  their 
ponies  under  arms,  waiting  the  word  of  their 
chiefs  to  pour  down  through  the  passes  on  the 
comparatively  defenceless  plains  below.  Hap- 
pily the  threatened  rebellion  was  peacefully  frus- 
trated, but  only  with  the  utmost  difficulty  (so 
hard  were  the  chiefs  to  persuade  that  the  Union 
would  not  affect  their  status),  and  it  was  not 
until  the  clearest  assurances  had  been  conveyed 
to  them  that  the  Basuto  chiefs  were  finally  con- 
vinced they  need  not  fight  to  keep  their  precious 
liberty. 

The  incident  passed  harmlessly,  but  it 
conveyed  a  lesson  which  only  madmen  could 
ignore.  It  confirmed  the  general  impression 
that  a  secret  confederacy  between  the  Basutos 
and  their  ancient  enemies  the  Zulus  is  in  exist- 
ence :  and  it  proved  to  the  last  doubter  that 
Basutoland  is  a  volcano  in  the  core  of  the 
Dominion  from  which  a  destroying  eruption  must 
be  continuously  expected.  The  effect  of  the 
incident  upon  the  Blacks  is  more  a  matter  of 
conjecture.  It  seems  logically  inevitable  to  act 

42 


as  a  spur  to  their  developing  sense  of  color 
nationality;  but  one  must  not  dogmatise  on  a 
quality  so  uncertain  as  the  negro  mind.  Many 
white  South  Africans  have  assured  me  that, 
since  the  Union,  the  natives  from  Rhodesia  to  the 
Cape  have  displayed  a  distinctly  new  tone  of 
self  assertion  and  diminished  subserviency  and 
that  they  begin  to  "  lift  up  their  heads."  In 
Basutoland  itself  the  tribesmen  tenaciously 
attribute  their  exclusion  from  the  Union  to  the 
bold  methods  of  their  chiefs,  and  I  am  reliably 
informed  that  they  consider  they  won  a  tre- 
mendous victory  over  the  whites,  a  victory  which 
was  all  the  more  significant  because  bloodless. 
That  they  overawed  the  Union  is  their  fixed  be- 
lief. However  this  may  be,  it  is  indisputable 
that  the  prestige  of  the  Basutos  throughout  the 
sub-continent  is  enormous  and  growing  steadily. 
The  Basutos  alone  among  the  various  black 
tribes  and  racial  sub-divisions  have  never  been 
beaten  by  the  whites.  As  soldiers,  their  es- 
cutcheon is  not  disfigured  by  a  single  serious 
blemish.  They  vanquished  the  Boers,  they  con- 
quered the  Zulus,  they  repulsed  and  withstood 
the  British.  It  is  true  that  at  last  they  bowed  to 
Britain  and  took  England  for  their  suzerain, 

43 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

but   they   did   so   voluntarily   and   not   because 
Britain  compelled  them. 

So  much  for  the  military  aspect.  As  re- 
gards civic  life  and  social  self-govermnent 
the  Basutos  attract  and  fill  the  eyes  of  the 
millions  of  blacks  dwelling  beyond  the  borders 
of  Basutoland,  as  a  living  proof  and  object 
lesson  that  negro  capacity  is  comparable  with 
European  talent.  The  Basutos  are  admittedly 
better  farmers  than  the  Boers.  They  use 
steam  ploughs.  They  till  much  of  their  lands 
according  to  the  rules  of  up-to-date  agricultural 
science,  and  they  harvest  their  crops  with 
machinery.  For  the  rest,  they  are  building  fac- 
tories and  beginning  to  make  their  own  clothes. 
The  unlettered  outer  hordes  stare  at  the  table- 
land with  eyes  in  which  begins  to  dawn  a  light  of 
hope  and  emulation.  Basutoland  is  the  shrine 
of  their  dreams,  the  Mecca  of  their  pilgrimage, 
the  source  and  fountain  of  their  nascent  inspir- 
ation. And  on  the  caverned  slope  of  Thaba 
Bosigo  lies  the  body  of  Moshesh,  the  negro  who 
broke  Chaka,  conquered  and  slew  General 
Wepener  and  defeated  Sir  George  Cathcart — 
Moshesh,  "  the  chief  who  was  never  conquered 
and  died  unbeaten." 

44 


LEWIXIKA'S  BAND  AND  TRIBESMEN 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

The  negro  has  no  literature,  but  he  has  a  his- 
tory, a  history  of  traditions.  Every  native  living" 
in  South  Africa  to-day  has  learned  the  story  of 
Moshesh :  knew  it  by  heart  before  his  teens,  and 
he  sings  his  hero's  exploits  every  holiday.  The 
Basutos  are  well  mounted  and  fairly  well  armed. 
They  have  plenty  of  carbines  and  mauser  rifles  : 
and  a  few  machine  guns.  It  is  a  crime — under 
the  white  man's  law — punishable  with  a  ^500 
fine  and  penal  servitude  to  carry  arms  into 
Basutoland.  But  the  Basutos  are  rich  and  their 
money  tempts.  An  illicit  trade  in  arms  flourishes 
beneath  the  rose  :  and  the  Basutos  are  steadily 
increasing  their  stock  of  modern  weapons.  They 
are  born  fighters,  men  of  dauntless  courage  and 
classical  physique :  tough  in  fibre,  virile,  strong 
and  incredibly  enduring.  They  drill  well. 
Their  discipline  is  superb.  They  ride  like 
centaurs.  They  shoot  straight.  All  their  stories 
are  of  fighting;  all  their  songs  are  of  battle. 
Their  country  is  a  stronghold.  It  was  found 
impregnable  to  white  assault  when  the  Basutos 
knew  no  better  weapon  than  the  assegai  and  were 
less  than  50,000  strong.  The  Basutos  are  seven 
times  more  numerous  to-day  and  they  are  armed 
with  the  white  man's  guns.  Their  eerie  look- 

45 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

outs  and  mountain  passes  command  three 
provinces  of  the  Union.  In  a  few  hours  they 
can  mobilise  an  army  of  tens  of  thousands  of 
cavalry.  They  have  shown  that  they  can  do  it. 
What  will  happen  if  such  a  horde  irrupts?  I 
put  that  question  to  a  leading  politician  at  Cape- 
town. He  frowned  and  half  closed  his  eyes. 
That  is  the  matter  with  the  whole  of  white  South 
Africa  to-day.  The  whites  are  mentally  color- 
blind. Their  eyes  are  shut  to  the  negro  problem. 
The  Basutos  are  black.  The  whites  affect  not  to 
see  in  them  aught  but  shadows.  It  is  a  stupid  atti- 
tude, because  the  natives,  right  throughout  South 
Africa,  have  already  crystallised  their  earlier 
vague  feelings  of  dissatisfaction  under  white 
rule  into  a  definite  propaganda.  The  propa- 
gandists are  black  school  teachers  and  church- 
men. They  preach  the  gospel  to-day  "  Africa 
for  the  Africans."  Once  they  preached  only  that 
the  natives  should  make  assertion  of  qualified 
equality  with  the  whites,  but  in  the  last  few  years 
they  have  progressed  far  beyond  that  modest 
doctrine  and  now  they  disavow  it  with  contempt. 
The  movement  is  of  episcopalian  management. 
It  centres  in  the  Ethiopian  Church,  which  is  a 
purely  native  offshoot  of  that  white  missionary 

46 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

enterprise  which  first  brought  Christianity  under 
the  negro's  notice.  The  Ethiopian  Church  is  a 
most  formidable  political  organisation.  It  is  affili- 
ated with  the  American  Negro  Methodist  Church 
and  is  really  a  secret  society  having  for  its  object 
the  driving  of  the  white  race  into  the  sea. 
That  is  its  ultimate  ambition.  At  present  it 
is  laboring  to  cement  into  a  single  political  body 
the  many  different  tribes  which  compose  the 
native  population  of  the  sub-continent.  It  is 
meeting  with  success  in  all  directions.  The 
blacks  are  beginning  to  feel  that  all  colored  men 
are  brethren  and  ought  to  be  brothers  in  arms. 
The  religious  complexion  of  the  movement 
appeals  strongly  to  their  superstitious  instincts. 
The  Ethiopian  Church  makes  scores  of  converts 
every  day.  It  is  spreading  over  the  country  as 
quietly  and  noiselessly  as  a  disease.  The  black 
minister  is  becoming  a  feature  in  every  camp  and 
compound,  in  almost  every  kraal.  Behind  the 
Church  are  the  chiefs.  They  watch  and  work 
and  wait. 


47 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  EFFECT  OF  THE  NATIVE  ON  THE  SOCIAL  AND 

ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS  OF  THE  WHITE 

POPULATION 

TTNTIL  well  on  towards  the  middle  of  last 
century  South  Africa  was  organised  on 
the  economic  basis  of  slavery.  The 
emancipation  of  the  slaves  nominally  took  place 
in  1834,  but  was  not  completed  until  several  years 
later.  The  existence  of  legal  slavery  up  to  that 
date  has  profoundly  influenced  the  development 
of  the  country.  The  whites  of  that  period  had 
grown  to  maturity  believing  that  the  proper  re- 
lation of  white  to  black  is  that  of  master  to  serf ; 
and  this  tradition  was  handed  down  to  their 
descendants.  It  still  persists  and  steadily  con- 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

tinues  to  govern  the  relations  between  the  white 
and  colored  races.  Before  the  emancipation  all 
rough  and  menial  work  was  performed  by  the 
slaves,  and  the  white  men  were  a  supervising  non- 
laboring  aristocracy.  The  blacks  are  now  free, 
but  they  still  do  all  the  menial  work,  i.e.  (in  the 
words  of  Mr.  J.  H.  Hofmeyer),  "  labor  for 
another,"  and  the  whites  still  regard  rough  and 
menial  work  as  work  fit  for  the  black  man  only. 
The  attitude  of  the  white  population  towards  all 
forms  of  unskilled  labor  is  lucidly  depicted  in 
the  Report  of  the  Royal  Commission  on  Indi- 
gency  presented  to  the  Transvaal  Government 
at  the  close  of  1908.  Paragraph  39  states — 

:<  We  have  taken  evidence  on  the  question  of 
"  the  effect  of  the  presence  of  the  native  on  the 
"  habits  and  institutions  of  the  white  population 
"  from  all  parts  of  South  Africa.  It  is  a  subject 
"  which  it  is  impossible  to  neglect.  It  enters 
"  into  every  aspect  of  the  social,  political  and 
"  economic  life  of  the  country,  and  no  problem, 
"  such  as  that  with  which  we  are  dealing,  can  be 
"  properly  understood  until  the  bearing  of  the 
"  native  question  upon  it  is  taken  into  account. 
"  We  have  also  found  that  in  all  parts  of  South 
"  Africa  it  exercises  a  dominant  influence  on  the 

49 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  life  and  habits  of  the  white  population.  This 
"  influence,  whilst  uniform  in  its  character,  pro- 
"  duces  varying  results,  according  to  geo- 
"  graphical,  historical,  and  other  conditions." 
Paragraph  46  observes — 
"  Though  the  legal  status  of  slavery  has  long 
"  been  abolished,  the  actual  social  and  economic 
"  relation  between  white  and  black  remains  very 
"  much  as  it  did  before :  it  is  still  the  general 
"  practice  for  the  native  to  do  the  rough  manual 
"  labor  under  the  supervision  and  direction  of 
"  the  white  man.  The  system  of  slavery  has 
"  simply  given  way  to  the  system  of  caste.  It  is 
"  not  remarkable  that  these  conditions  should 
"  have  given  rise  to  the  idea  that  it  is  derogatory 
"  to  the  dignity  of  the  white  man  that  he  should 
"  do  work  of  which  the  native  was  capable  and 
"  in  the  habit  of  doing.  How  widely  this  view 
"  is  held  in  the  Transvaal  and  throughout  the 
"  whole  of  South  Africa,  will  appear  constantly 
"  in  the  course  of  this  Report.  For  the  present 
"  we  shall,  in  addition  to  the  evidence  of  Mr. 
'  J.  H.  Hofmeyr,  to  which  we  have  already  re- 
"  f erred  (see  p.  22),  limit  our  quotations  to  the 
"  evidence  of  two  witnesses.  Mr.  F.  S.  Malan 
"  said— 

50 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  '  I  think  a  great  deal  of  harm  has  been  done 
"  '  to  the  white  people  in  South  Africa  by  the 
"  '  false  idea  that  there  is  a  certain  class  of  work 
"  '  which  is  infra  dig.  for  the  white  man  to  do, 
"  *  and  the  more  we  can  preach  against  that  doc- 
"  *  trine  the  better.' 

"  The  Rev.  D.  Theron,  of  Fordsburg,  told  us 
"  that— 

"  *  There   are  many  white   people  who   have 

'  thought  it  a  disgrace  to  go  into  a  carpenter's 
"  *  shop  and  work.' 

"  We  have  been  impressed  with  the  frequency 
"  with  which  it  has  been  stated  in  evidence  that 
"  unskilled  labor  was  '  Kaffir's  work,'  and  as 
"  such  not  the  kind  of  work  which  a  white  man 
"  should  perform.  This  opinion  is  due  not  to 
"  anything  which  is  inherently  unpleasant  or  de- 
"  grading  in  the  work,  but  to  the  fact  that  such 
"  labor  is  ordinarily  performed  in  South  Africa 
"  by  the  native. 

'  This  attitude  of  the  white  man  has  greatly 
"  affected  his  efficiency  as  a  laborer.  He  has 
"  never  regarded  unskilled  labor  as  an  ordinary 
"  field  of  employment.  When  he  has  had  to  do 
"  unskilled  work  he  has  done  it  grudgingly  as 
"  being  Kaffir's  work,  and  therefore  badly.  The 

5' 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  standard  of  efficiency  of  white  unskilled  labor 
"  in  South  Africa  has  fallen  very  much  lower 
"  than  in  countries  where  there  is  no  colored 
"  labor.  The  white  laborer,  moreover,  requires 
"  a  high  scale  of  wages  as  compared  with  the 
"  native.  Black  labor  is  cheap  because  the 
"  native  lives  very  cheaply  and  has  a  subsidiary 
"  source  of  livelihood  in  the  produce  of  his  tribal 
"  lands  and  in  the  labor  of  his  women  and 
"  children.  Hence  there  is  little  or  no  demand 
"  for  white  unskilled  labor  even  if  the  white 
"  man's  prejudices  against  *  Kaffir's  work  '  would 
"  permit  him  to  accept  such  employment/' 

It  would  be  quite  impossible  to  exaggerate  the 
importance  of  the  native  monopoly  of  unskilled 
labor.  Let  the  Royal  Commission  speak  again. 

Paragraph  50  says — 

"  So  long  as  these  conditions  continue,  any 
"  white  man  who  has  to  depend  for  his  livelihood 
"  on  his  power  of  earning  wages,  and  who  has 
"  not  the  knowledge  or  the  training  to  qualify 
"  him  for  doing  skilled  or  semi-skilled  work,  is 
"  almost  certain  to  become  indigent.  The  virtual 
"  closing,  therefore,  of  the  unskilled  labor  mar- 
"  ket  to  the  white  population  is  a  fact  of  the 
"  utmost  importance.  If  large  numbers  of  white 

52 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  South  Africans  who  are  now  approaching  man- 
"  hood  have  few,  if  any,  qualifications  for  getting 
"  skilled  employment,  and  if,  as  at  present,  they 
"  refuse  to  abandon  the  objection  to  do  unskilled 
"  work  because  they  regard  it  as  Kaffir's  work, 
"  and  are  inefficient  and  expensive,  most  of  them 
"  are  bound  to  join  the  ranks  of  those  who  have 
"  already  become  the  victims  of  the  caste  system 
"  — the  poor  whites" 

Paragraph  52  says — 

"  It  has  been  clearly  proved  to  us  that  the  re- 
"  striction  of  the  native  to  the  sphere  of  unskilled 
"  work  cannot  be  permanent.  His  intense  desire 
"  for  education  is  everywhere  the  subject  of  com- 
"  ment.  For  instance,  witnesses  have  pointed 
"  out  that  the  great  majority  of  the  natives  in 
"  domestic  employment  have  books  in  their 
"  possession,  with  which  they  are  continually 
"  attempting  to  teach  themselves.  A  school 
"mistress  near  Heidelberg  told  us  that  the 
"  native  children  used  regularly  to  walk  three 
"  miles  to  attend  a  native  school  in  the  vicinity, 
"  and  witnesses  in  other  parts  of  the  country  have 
"  made  similar  statements.  The  Rev.  Andrew 
"  Murray,  of  Rustenburg,  told  us  that  native 

'  servants  are  removed  because  they  have  to  go 

53 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

" '  to  school.  They  are  removed  from  service 
" '  for  that  purpose.'  A  native  Commissioner 
"  was  asked,  '  Are  you  in  a  position  to  say 
"  *  whether  the  desire  for  education  is  keener 
"  '  among  the  natives,  or  the  poor  whites  ? '  and 
"  replied,  '  Amongst  the  natives,  from  my  ex- 
"  *  perience.'  The  Report  of  the  Native  Affairs 
"  Department  for  1905-6  is  full  of  references  to 
"  this  intense  desire  for  education  amongst  the 
"  natives  in  all  parts  of  the  Transvaal.  There 
"are  in  Pretoria  about  1,528  native  and  colored 
"children  under  14,  and  of  these  about  1,000 
"  are  attending  School.  In  Cape  Colony  the 
"  facts  are  still  more  striking.  According  to  the 
"  Report  of  the  Director  of  Education  for  1906, 
"  there  were  102,849  native  and  colored  children 
"  at  school,  as  against  73,000  white  children." 

Paragraph  55  of  the  Report  shows  that  the 
black  man  has  already  entered  successfully  into 
many  skilled  trades.  It  states  that  85  per  cent, 
of  the  mechanics  employed  in  the  building  trade 
in  Kimberley  are  colored  :  that  the  waggon  build- 
ing trade  has  fallen  almost  completely  into  the 
hands  of  the  negro :  that  30  per  cent,  of  those 
engaged  in  the  printing  trade  are  negroes :  and 
that  black  competition  is  already  acute  in  the 

54 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

trades  of  carpentering,  plastering,  saddlery, 
painting,  tailoring  and  bricklaying.  The  para- 
graph concludes  as  follows : — "  It  is  not  neces- 
"  sary  for  us  to  labor  this  point  further  ...  we 
"  are  satisfied  that  carpentry,  painting,  plastering 
"  and  similar  skilled  work  (hitherto  the  exclusive 
"  preserves  of  the  white  man)  are  being  done  to 
"  an  increasing  extent  by  colored  labor." 

The  whole  teaching  of  this  Royal  Commission 
stresses  the  conclusion  that  a  considerable  part 
of  the  white  population  of  South  Africa  is 
"  doomed  to  indigency "  unless  the  prejudice 
against  "  Kaffir's  work  "  is  speedily  abandoned. 
But  that  after  all  is  only  a  phase  of  the  problem. 
The  black  monopoly  of  unskilled  labor  undoubt- 
edly originated  in  the  slave  system  which  created 
the  prejudice  complained  of :  but  the  strength  of 
the  monopoly  is  not  dependent  on  the  prejudice. 
The  truth  of  the  matter  is  that  if  the  white  man's 
aversion  to  "  Kaffir "  work  were  broken  down 
completely  and  universally  to-morrow  the  posi- 
tion would  hardly  be  one  whit  altered :  for  there 
would  be  little  or  no  unskilled  work  for  the  white 
man  to  do.  The  negro  owns  it  all  and  must  con- 
tinue to  monopolise  it  indefinitely  for  the  reason 
that  his  labor  is  far  cheaper  to  the  employer  than 

55 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

that  of  the  white  man.  The  native  gladly 
accepts  wages  which  would  not  suffice  to  keep  a 
white  man's  body  and  soul  together.  His  labor 
is  efficient  and  he  thrives  on  the  pittance  that 
would  bring  his  white  competitor  to  starvation. 
In  my  opinion  the  only  possible  cure  is  the  statu- 
tory establishment  of  a  minimum  wage  for  all 
workers  both  white  and  black :  but  the  expedient 
is  at  present  impracticable  and  would  probably 
create  a  revolution  if  suddenly  enforced.  The 
Royal  Commission  found  that  there  is  an  im- 
mence  amount  of  white  indigency  prevailing  in 
all  parts  of  South  Africa.  Many  thousands  of 
white  men  are  living  as  vagrants  and  on  charity. 
Thousands  more  live  by  vice  and  crime.  And 
there  is  no  immediate  hope  or  prospect  of  relief. 
The  market  for  skilled  labor  is  strictly  limited 
and  the  negro  encroaches  on  it  more  and  more 
as  time  proceeds.  The  market  for  unskilled 
labor  belongs  wholly  to  the  blacks :  it  is  ensured 
to  them  by  the  cheapness  of  their  labor  and  it  is 
sealed  to  them  by  a  public  sentiment  which 
shows  no  symptoms  of  wearing  out.  British 
citizens  whose  thoughts  have  been  turned  towards 
South  Africa  should  take  sober  heed  of  these 
conditions.  The  immigrant  who  is  a  skilled 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

artisan  may  possibly  find  employment,  but  for 
the  unskilled  worker  there  is  no  room.  South 
Africa  promises  much  to  the  agricultural  immi- 
grant possessed  of  brains,  energy,  adaptability 
and  a  substantial  capital,  but  has  no  real  welcome 
for  any  other  class.  If  a  poor  man  goes  there 
it  will  only  be  to  increase  his  poverty  unless  he  is 
a  highly  trained  craftsman.  The  country  is 
cursed  with  a  large  pauper  population  of  un- 
skilled white  workers.  To  increase  it  by  immi- 
gration would  be  a  calamity  to  all  concerned. 


57 


CHAPTER  V 

THE    BOER 

T  N  order  to  understand  the  Boer,  some  know- 
ledge of  his  early  history  is  essential. 
Originally  he  was  a  pioneer  and  voor- 
trekker.  His  occupation  of  the  High  and  Low 
Velds  dates  back  only  about  sixty  years.  After 
the  defeat  of  Mosolekatze  in  the  Transvaal  and 
of  Dingaan  in  Natal  the  Boers  spread  over  the 
High  Veld  and  parcelled  out  the  land  :  taking  up 
very  large  farms,  which  they  worked  as  pastoral - 
ists.  The  daily  life  of  the  average  farmer  con- 
sisted mainly  in  supervising  the  work  of  Kaffirs 
in  the  mealie  plantations  or  among  the  stock  and 
in  shooting  game  for  the  pot.  The  early  land 
owners  did  not  cultivate  the  soil  because  there 

58 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

was  no  market  for  their  produce.  They  lived 
almost  wholly  on  game.  Their  cattle  were  less 
a  source  of  food  supply  than  a  form  (the  only 
form  available)  in  which  they  might  accumulate 
wealth.  Their  homesteads  were  leagues  apart. 
They  seldom  met  in  social  intercourse.  Their 
lives  were  extremely  primitive  :  their  outlook  was 
absolutely  uncommercial.  Population  gradually 
accumulated  on  the  farms,  both  by  natural  in- 
crease and  by  the  advent  of  late  comers  who 
found  no  land  to  take  up,  but  were  welcomed  by 
the  early  settlers  and  permitted  to  squat  wherever 
they  pleased.  Mealies  and  meat  were  always 
plentiful  in  those  days,  and  the  pioneers  made 
their  big  farms  free  to  the  immigrant  families  the 
more  readily  because  of  the  additional  pro- 
tection thus  afforded  against  native  attack.  In 
course  of  time  nearly  every  farm  on  the  veld  was 
settled  with  numerous  families.  There  was  the 
family  of  the  owner  and  tfce  families  of  his 
children  who  always  settled  around  the  home- 
stead of  the  pioneer  :  and  next  the  families  of  the 
tenant  immigrants.  These  latter  paid  no  rent 
and  had  no  defined  duties  or  responsibilities  to 
the  owner.  They  were,  in  law,  merely  tenants  at 
will,  yet  they  could  not  be  driven  out  because  of 

59 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

the  custom  of  the  country.  They  were  called 
"  by-woners."  The  general  system  of  land 
tenure  followed  the  precepts  of  the  old  Roman- 
Dutch  law.  As  the  pioneers  died,  the  farms  fell 
into  the  undivided  ownership  of  their  descend- 
ants. The  second  and  third  generations  of 
owners  and  "  by-woners  "  grew  up  together  and 
all  looked  to  a  living  from  the  farm  and  by 
hunting.  Gradually,  despite  the  huge  size  of 
the  farms,  the  population  became  too  great  for 
the  land  to  support  by  the  old  method  of  farm- 
ing. Game,  too,  died  out  and  disappeared. 
The  peoples'  wants  were  few,  nevertheless  the 
pressure  began  to  be  felt.  The  Boers,  however, 
seemed  incapable  of  farming  properly.  The 
idea  of  trying  new  methods  to  increase  the  soil's 
productivity  never  occurred  to  them.  When  this 
stage  was  reached,  the  "  by-woners  "  were  marked 
out  by  the  landowners  for  expulsion  and  a 
general  movement  of  population  from  the  land 
to  the  town  was  actually  beginning,  when  of  a 
sudden,  gold  was  discovered  on  the  Witwaters- 
rand.  This  event  relieved  the  pressure  by 
creating  a  large  amount  of  new  employment  for 
the  rural  population  as  transport  riders  and  pro- 
ducers of  foodstuffs  for  the  miners.  It  also 

60 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

caused  the  distribution  of  large  sums  of  cash 
among  the  land  owners  for  options  of  purchase. 
An  era  of  unprecedented  prosperity  ensued,  but 
it  soon  came  to  an  end.  The  option  money  gave 
out.  Railways  were  built  and  the  transport 
riders  were  thus  deprived  of  occupation  and 
livelihood.  The  farmers,  too,  lost  much  of  their 
market  for  food  stuffs  through  the  same  agency, 
the  miners  preferring  to  import  food  rather  than 
depend  on  the  inferior  produce  of  the  backward 
local  farms. 

Once  more  a  crisis  supervened  and  the 
exodus  from  country  to  town  re-commenced. 
Thousands  of  "  by-woners  "  flocked  to  the  mines 
and  cities  in  search  of  work.  But  they  found 
little  or  none.  The  unskilled  labor  market  was 
monopolised  by  cheap  black  workers  and  closed 
to  white  men  by  caste  prejudice*  Skilled  work 
the  Boers  could  not  do,  for  they  were  utterly  un- 
educated and  untrained.  A  horrible  drifting 
back  and  forth  between  country  and  city  suc- 
ceeded. Thousands  left  the  land.  Thousands 
were  thrust  back  on  the  land.  The  rinderpest 
came  to  complete  the  trouble.  In  a  single  twelve 
months  this  dreadful  scourge  reduced  the  herds 
of  all  South  Africa  by  one  half  and  left  the 

61 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

country  a  shambles  of  disease  and  desolation. 
The  Government  did  its  best  to  help  the  people  : 
but  its  best  was  a  poor  thing.  Great  congre- 
gations of  poor  whites  settled  along  the  Rand, 
in  Pretoria  and  on  the  outskirts  of  other  towns. 
Crime  and  charity  kept  them  from  starvation. 
At  last  came  the  war.  Before  the  war  a  great 
proportion  of  the  rural  population  had  already 
declined  into  indigency.  The  war  intensified 
the  evil.  It  impoverished  the  richest  pioneers 
and  it  swept  the  poorer  farmers  along  with  the 
remaining  "  by-woners  "  into  the  towns  in  desti- 
tute hordes.  The  Royal  Commission  on  Indi- 
gency of  1908  points  the  situation  of  to-day. 

Paragraph  25  says — 

"  Indigency  is  still  increasing  among  the 
"  country  population.  During  the  period  imme- 
"  diately  following  the  war,  the  dislocation  of  the 
"  farming  industry  forced  almost  all  classes  of 
"  the  community  to  import  from  the  neighbour- 
"  ing  colonies  and  from  oversea  the  supplies 
"  which  they  had  previously  obtained  -in  the 
'  Transvaal.  The  Transvaal  farmer,  therefore, 
"  had  to  force  his  way  back  into  what  had  pre- 
"  viously  been  his  own  natural  markets.  The 
"  distribution  of  prospecting  and  option  money 

62 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  by  speculators  and  of  food  and  stock  by  the 
"  Repatriation  Department  enabled  part  of  the 
"farming  population  for  a  time  to  live  without 
"  doing  much  work.  Both  of  these  means  of 
"  livelihood  soon  disappeared,  and  the  people 
"  were  left  to  their  own  resources  with  acquired 
"  habits  of  idleness  and  dependence  upon  others. 
"  In  the  face  of  the  harder  conditions  many  were 
"  unable  to  make  a  living,  and  became  indigents. 
"  Moreover,  diseases  and  pests  have  scourged 
"  the  Transvaal  in  the  years  succeeding  the  war. 
"  The  war  set  back  agriculture  many  years,  and 
"  in  spite  of  much  industry  and  enterprise  East 
"  Coast  fever  and  locusts  have  checked  the 
"  process  of  its  recovery.  Not  only  does  cattle 
"  disease  destroy  the  stock,  but  owing  to  the 
"  quarantine  regulations  which  are  necessary  to 
"  stamp  it  out  in  many  cases  it  deprives  a  farmer 
"  for  years  of  all  access  to  his  natural  markets. 
'  Those  who  owned  large  areas  in  healthy  dis- 
"  tricts,  farmed  according  to  up-to-date  methods, 
"  and  had  a  reserve  of  capital  to  enable  them  to 
"  live  over  the  bad  years,  are  now  improving  their 
"  position,  and  are  tending  to  buy  up  the  hold- 
"  ings  of  their  poorer  neighbours.  But  most  of 
"  the  rest — the  by-woners  and  many  of  the 

63 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  owners  of  small  farms  who  have  been  unable 
"  to  cope  with  the  difficulties  which  have  beset 
"  them — have  migrated  to  the  towns  or  are  living 
"  as  indigent  squatters  on  their  own  lands." 
The  report  proceeds  to  say — 
"  To  begin  with,  these  people  were  well  enough 
"  off.  They  got  a  rude  but  sufficient  living  by 
"  trekking  about,  shooting  game  and  buying 
"  with  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  the  skins  and 
"  horns  what  other  necessaries  in  the  way  of 
"  clothes  and  groceries  they  required.  But  later, 
"  when  game  became  scarce  or  was  protected,  and 
"  especially  after  the  rinderpest  had  destroyed 
"  their  cattle,  they  sunk  into  a  condition  of  indi- 
"  gency.  It  might  have  been  expected  that  as 
"  the  country  became  occupied  they  would  settle 
"  down  and  make  a  living  by  farming,  but  this 
"  they  were  quite  unfitted  to  do.  They  were 
"  pioneers  and  averse  to  the  routine  and  steady 
"  work  of  a  settler's  life.  As  Mr.  Kleinenburg, 
"  of  Pietersburg,  said  to  us — 

'  What  with  annual  hunting  trips  to  the  un- 
'  known  interior,  native  wars  and  other  un- 
'  settling  influences,  the  real  son  of  the  soil  has 
'  never  considered  it  necessary  or  been  obliged 
'  to  consider  the  necessity  of  close  application 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  '  to  the  working  of  his  farm.  Besides  this,  the 
" '  quantity  of  native  labor  at  his  command  has 

'  strengthened  him  in  the  idea  that  the  native 
"  *  has  to  do  the  work  and  the  white  man  indulge 
"  '  in  ease  and  comfort  as  far  as  the  circumstances 
"  *  would  admit.' 

"  Most  of  the  descendants  of  these  early  immi- 
"  grants  are  more  or  less  indigent  to-day.  Their 
"  condition  is  clearly  described  in  the  evidence 
"  which  we  have  received.  Thus  Mr.  Gelden- 
"  buys,  the  Town  Clerk  of  Potgietersrust,  said  to 


"us- 


" '  Most  of  the  people  came  in  here  and  lived 

"  *  on  hunting,  and  then,  especially  in  the  Water- 

"  '  berg  and  Zoutpansberg,  the  climate  is  such 

'  that  if  a  man  does  without  work  for  a  week  or 

'  a  month  he  gets  so  lazy  that  he  will  not  work 

" '  any  more  :  and,  therefore,  after  all  the  game 

'  was  killed  they  got  to  this  stage  of  indolence, 

" '  and  then  the  people  coming  in  later  on  were 

'  more  energetic  and  so  passed  them.     Most  of 

'  the  people  who  are  in  poverty  to-day  are  those 

'  who    have    been    here    from    the    beginning. 

" '  They  mostly  had  cattle  before  the  war,  and 

'  during  the  war  lost  that,  and  immediately  after 

"  '  the  war  we  had  droughts  and  locusts.     They 

65 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  *  have  not  the  energy  to  uplift  themselves.  In 
" '  the  late  Government's  time  they  were  living 
"  *  on  charities,  later  on  there  was  the  Repatri- 
"  *  ation,  and  they  thought  they  could  get  things 
" '  for  nothing.  All  that  assisted  them  to  get 
'  lower  down/ 

Another  witness  explained  that — 

"  *  Gradually    they    got    into    worse    circum- 

*  stances,  and  they  never  learnt  to  work,  for 
'  the  simple  reason  that  there  was  no  object  in 
'  working.     It  could  not  be  turned  to  account. 

"  *  There  was  never  a  market  for  this  district. 
'  It  has  now  become  their  nature  not  to  work.' ' 
Mr.  McKechnie,  of  Pietersburg,  also  said — 
'  The  majority  of  poor  whites  here  are  neither 

"  '  willing  nor  able  to  do  a  hard  day's  work  as 
'  agriculturists.      They  have  been  accustomed 

*  to  riding  wood  to  the  market,  loafing  about  at 
'  home  and  hunting.     They  really  do  not  know 
'  what  it  means  to  put  in  a  hard  day's  work 

*  from  early  morning  to  late  at  night,  which  is 
'  the  only  way  in  which  a  farmer  can  make 
'  both  ends  meet,  with  the  drawbacks  in  this 

" '  country.' " 

Mr.  Krogh  stated  that  "  many  of  them  do  not 
"  earn  £  i  a  month  and  yet  they  live." 

66 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

The  condition  in  the  towns  is  no  better  than  in 
the  country.  Every  large  Transvaal  town  has  a 
considerable  population  of  indigents :  and  to  a 
lesser  degree  poor  whites  are  to  be  found  in  most 
of  the  towns  of  the  other  provinces.  In  addition 
there  are  special  State  subsidised  "  poor  white  " 
settlements  at  several  places,  notably  Goe- 
dodeorp,  Donkey  Camp,  and  Vrededorp,  in 
which  the  residents  are  all  paupers  living  mostly 
on  charity. 

The  Report  says  (paragraph  35,  page  19) — 
"  Another  class  of  indigents  in  the  towns  of 
"  the  Transvaal  are  the  unemployed.  They 
"  mainly  consist  of  people  who  have  emigrated 
"  from  other  Colonies  or  from  oversea.  Un- 
"  employment  has  been  the  natural  product  of 
"  the  rapidly  developing,  and  therefore  unstable, 
"  conditions  which  existed  in  the  Transvaal 
"  towns  after  the  opening  up  of  the  goldfields. 
'  The  discovery  of  gold  in  the  Pilgrims  Rest, 
"  Barberton  and  Leydsdorp  Districts,  and  later 
"  the  far  more  notorious  discovery  of  the  blanket 
"  gold-bearing  reef  of  the  Witwatersrand, 
"  attracted  to  the  Transvaal  large  numbers  of 
"  people  of  every  class  and  every  profession. 
'  They  came  to  the  Transvaal  in  the  expectation 

67 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  of  being  able  to  find  wealth  with  certainty,  if 
"  not  with  ease.  The  great  bulk  of  the  immi- 
"  grants,  however,  especially  of  those  who  came 
"  to  the  Witwatersrand,  found  that  their  only 
"  chance  of  livelihood  lay  in  getting  employment 
"  under  conditions  very  similar  to  those  which 
"  obtained  elsewhere.  Moreover,  many  of  them 
"  were  in  no  way  qualified  to  do  the  skilled  work 
"  for  which  white  labor  was  required.  There 
"  were  too  many  *  handy  men,'  general  workers, 
"  and  people  whose  main  experience  was  in 
"  clerical  and  other  sedentary  occupations. 
"  Further,  the  process  of  blanket  mining  took 
"  some  time  to  set  in  motion.  Capital  had  to  be 
"  attracted  from  Europe,  engineers  had  to  make 
"  their  plans  and  draw  their  designs,  and 
"  machinery  had  to  be  imported.  As  a  result, 
"  there  were  from  the  beginning  large  numbers 
"  of  the  white  population  in  the  Witwatersrand 
"  who  were  unemployed.  The  lot  of  the  early 
"  immigrants  was  made  still  more  trying  by  the 
"  high  cost  of  living  which  obtained  in  the  towns 
"  of  the  Transvaal  owing  to  the  long  distance 
"  from  which  most  of  its  supplies  even  of  the 
"  necessaries  of  life  had  to  be  brought.  It  made 
"  it  extremely  difficult  for  those  who  were  out  of 

68 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  work  to  get  even  the  bare  means  of  subsistence. 
"  It  also,  by  making  high  wages  necessary  for 
"  those  who  were  in  employment,  tended  to 
"  accentuate  the  very  evil  from  which  the  un- 
"  employed  were  suffering.  For  the  high  wages 
"  served  to  attract  to  the  country  more  white  men 
"  from  outside  when  there  was  not  sufficient 
"  employment  for  those  who  were  already  there. 
"  These  conditions  have  persisted  more  or  less 
"  ever  since.  After  the  war  there  was  a  renewed 
"  influx  of  people,  anxious  to  take  advantage  of 
"  the  rapid  development  which  was  expected  to 
"  take  place  in  mining,  commerce  and  agricul- 
"  ture.  Large  number  of  ex-volunteers,  ex- 
"  soldiers,  and  others  remained  in  the  country." 

Paragraph  36  says — 

"  People  sitting  by  their  camp  fires  and  chat- 
"  ting  about  things  here,  explained  to  strangers 
"  how  they  had  got  on  here,  and  induced  those 
"  men  to  remain  here,  and  they  did  remain,  and 
"  they  immediately  flocked  to  Johannesburg  as 
"  being  the  centre. 

"  Many  of  these  men  were  quite  unqualified  to 
"  become  miners  or  to  ply  any  trade  which  re- 
"  quired  skill  or  experience.  If  they  got  employ- 
"  ment  at  all  it  was  because  there  was  an 

69 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  insufficient  supply  of  really  qualified  men. 
"  They  were  therefore  the  first  to  be  thrown  out 
"  of  employment  as  soon  as  work  grew  slack  or 
"  better  trained  men  were  to  be  had.  The  lack 
"  of  employment  from  which  these  people  suf- 
"  fered  was  greatly  accentuated  in  1906-7  by  the 
"  check  given  to  mining  and  other  industrial 
"  development  work,  by  the  uncertainty  in  re- 
"  gard  to  the  supply  of  colored  labor.  The 
"  distress  resulting  from  the  lack  of  employment 
"  would  have  been  far  worse  if  the  high  wages 
"  earned  by  the  better  class  of  artizan  had  not 
"  enabled  them  to  put  by  savings  with  which  they 
"  were  able  to  travel  elsewhere  in  search  of  work. 
"  Besides  the  poor  whites  and  the  unemployed 
"  there  are  two  other  classes  of  indigents  in  the 
"  towns  of  the  Transvaal.  Loafers,  good-for- 
"  nothings,  and  those  who  live  by  criminal 
"  means,  are  always  attracted  to  mining  camps, 
"  where  money  is  easily  come  by  without  regular 
"  hard  work.  Johannesburg  was  no  exception  to 
"  the  rule.  The  opportunities  which  it  presented 
"  of  making  a  living  by  such  means  as  illicit  gold 
"  buying  or  liquor  selling,  and  the  proverbial 
"  generosity  of  a  mining  population  soon  made  it 
"  the  resort  of  a  large  idle,  semi-criminal  popula- 

70 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  tion.  As  is  but  natural,  a  considerable  propor- 
"  tion  of  this  class  are  in  a  constant  state  of  want. 

"  There  are  also  the  aged,  the  infirm  and  the 
"  incapable.  This  class  of  indigents  exists  to  a 
"  greater  or  less  degree  in  every  community,  and 
"  are  everywhere  the  product  of  the  same  causes. 
"  Their  number  is  comparatively  small  in  Johan- 
"  nesburg,  because  it  is  a  young  city,  and  people 
"  have  not  had  time  to  grow  old  in  it.  In  Pre- 
"  toria  conditions  are  much  the  same  as  in 
'  Johannesburg,  but  as  it  is  an  older  town,  and 
"  a  larger  proportion  of  its  population  is  married, 
"  the  proportion  of  those  entirely  dependent  upon 
"  charity  appears  to  be  greater  than  in  Johannes- 
burg." 

Paragraph  71  states — 

"  Another  obstacle  which  stands  in  the  way  of 
"  the  white  man  getting  unskilled  work  is  the  dif- 
"  ference  between  the  present  scale  of  white  and 
"  native  wages.  This  difference  is  largely  due 
"  to  the  fact  that  the  economic  conditions  which 
"  fix  the  rate  of  native  wages  are  different  tc  those 
"  which  govern  the  wages  of  the  white  man.  It 
"  is  also,  however,  to  a  great  extent  caused  by 
"two  other  factors,  the  high  cost  of  living  and 
"  the  very  high  standards  of  living  adopted  by 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  the  white  man  in  South  Africa  as  compared 
"  with  the  ordinary  standards  of  white  working 
"  men  in  similar  positions  elsewhere.  For 
"  example,  the  cost  of  living  in  Johannesburg  is 
"  about  twice  as  great  as  it  is  in  England,  both 
"  for  the  artisan  and  laborer  class.  The  cost 
"  of  living  in  the  other  towns  of  South  Africa  is 
"  less  than  it  is  in  Johannesburg,  but  not  sub- 
"  stantially  less.  A  qualified  artisan  in  England 
"  earns,  according  to  a  recent  Board  of  Trade 
"  enquiry,  between  355.  and  405.  a  week.  In 
"  order  to  live  at  the  same  standards  in  Johannes- 
"  burg,  that  is,  buying  the  same  amount  of  food, 
"  clothing,  crockery  and  other  household  requi- 
"  sites,  and  occupying  the  same  style  of  house, 
"he  would  require  rather  more  than  ^3  IDS.  a 
"  week,  or  between  £ l 5  and  £  17  a  month.  The 
"  laboring  classes  in  England,  such  as  brick- 
"  layers'  assistants,  earn  from  2os.  to  255.  a  week. 
"  If  they  live  in  Johannesburg  at  English 
"  standards  they  would  need  from  375.  to  475.  a 
"week,  or  from  £8  to  ^10  a  month,  according 
"  to  the  style  of  house  they  occupied.  These 
"figures  refer  to  the  better  class  of  unskilled 
"  laborer,  who  in  normal  conditions  of  trade 
"  would  be  in  regular  employment.  Many  un- 

72 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  skilled  workers  in  England  are  paid  far  less 
"than  2 is.  a  week.  The  ordinary  qualified 
"  artisan  in  Johannesburg,  however,  expects  a 
"wage  of  at  least  ^26  a  month,  and  the  com- 
"  monest  answer  received  to  the  question  as  to 
"  what  should  be  the  lowest  wage  which  should 
"  be  paid  to  white  unskilled  labor,  was  IDS.  a 
"  day.  Thus  the  standards  of  living  of  the 
"  working  classes  are  also  considerably  higher 
"  than  the  standards  which  prevail  in  England. 
'  The  extravagant  mode  of  living  affects  all 
"  classes  of  the  community. 

'  There  is  no  question  that  the  methods  of 
"  farming  which  obtain  amongst  the  rural  popu- 
"  lation,  especially  those  dwelling  far  from  the 
"  railways,  are  extremely  backward.  Large 
"  numbers  of  farmers  are  accustomed  to  raise 
"  from  their  land  a  mere  subsistence  for  their 
"  families.  So  long  as  the  farm  will  give  them 
"  a  living  they  prefer  to  spend  their  days  in  other 
"  pursuits,  such  as  hunting  and  attending  meet- 
"  ings,  rather  than  in  trying  to  make  their  land 
"  more  productive.  Many  of  them  are  opposed 
"  to  new  ideas  and  are  content  to  follow  the 
"  simple  methods  which  suited  their  ancestors 
"  but  which  are  unfitted  for  times  when  land  is 

73 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  becoming  scarce,  population  is  increasing  and 
"  competition  is  keen." 

Paragraph  101  says — 

"  Most  of  the  population  in  the  remote  districts 
"  and  many  of  those  who  dwell  near  to  the  rail- 
"  way  and  the  towns  continue  to  live  in  much  the 
"  same  manner  as  the  earliest  immigrants  to  the 
"  Transvaal.  The  pioneer  settlers  entered  the 
"  country  before  modern  methods  of  farming  had 
"  been  evolved.  Most  of  them  were  men  who 
"  had  received  little  or  no  education,  and  their 
"  habits  were  pastoral  and  nomadic,  rather  than 
"  agricultural  and  settled.  The  Boer  farmer  did 
"  not  attempt  to  learn  new  methods,  and  the  con- 
"  ditions  of  farming  in  the  Transvaal  never,  till 
"  a  few  years  ago,  attracted  settlers  with  farming 
"  experience  from  elsewhere,  who  could  set  an 
"  example  to  the  rest.  It  is,  therefore,  but  natural 
"  that,  cut  off  from  the  world  as  they  have  been, 
"  many  of  the  country  population  are  ignorant 
"  and  unable  to  modify  their  manner  of  life  to 
"  suit  modern  conditions.  The  Rev.  J.  H.  van 
:<  Wijk,  of  Adelaide,  Cape  Colony,  informed  the 
"  Commissioner  he  considered  ignorance  to  be 
"  '  the  greatest  and  chief  cause '  of  indigency. 
" '  We  have  the  poor  because  we  have  the 
" '  ignorant  white.' 

74 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  In  spite  of  the  great  strides  which  the  spread 

"  of  education  has  made   during  the  past  few 

"  years,  many  do  not  really  appreciate  its  value. 

"  The    Rev.    Andrew    Murray    (Rustenburg) 

"  stated  that — 

"  *  Very  many  parents  wish  to  be  paid  for  send- 
" '  ing   their   children   to   school.      That   seems 
"  '  strange,  but  it  is  a  fact.     Not  long  ago  I  heard 
"  '  from  an  Inspector  of  a  man  who  was  getting 
'  so  much  for  transport  (of  children  to  school) 
'  and  the   parents  said : — You  must  give  me 
'  half  of  what  you  get  for  transport  because  I 
'  give  you  my  child  to  transport  to  school.' 
"  Another  witness  said — 

'  We  cannot  get  the  farmers  to  send  their 

'  children  to  school  for  long  enough  :  they  have 

'  an  idea  that  a  youngster,  if  he  has  been  in 

'  school   for  a  year,   ought  to  be  pretty  well 

"  '  educated.' 

"  Mr.  du  Plessis  stated — 

'  My  experience  has  been  that  the  people 
'  living  in  my  neighbourhood  are  not  very 
'  anxious  to  have  their  children  educated,  and 

*  are  ready  to  seize  on  any  excuse  they  can 

*  make  to  keep  their  child  away  from  school.' ' 
Paragraph  104  : — 

75 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  Idleness  is  a  pronounced  feature  of  the 
"  backwardness  of  the  country  population.  Wit- 
"  nesses  examined  before  the  Royal  Commission 
"  have  ascribed  the  indigency  in  the  country 
"more  frequently  to  idleness  than  to  any  other 
"  cause.  The  presence  of  the  native  as  a  docile 
"  manual  worker,  and  the  easy  life  which  a  pas- 
"  toral  style  of  farming  permits,  have  naturally 
"  led  the  country  population  to  take  a  lazy, 
"  indolent  view  of  life.  A  low  standard  of  liv- 
"  ing,  the  absence  of  any  stimulus  to  effort,  either 
"  from  the  climate  or  the  example  of  their  neigh- 
"  bours,  and  a  profound  ignorance  of  improved 
"  methods  of  farming,  have  prevented  them  from 
"  realising  the  value  of  hard  labor  intelligently 
"  applied,  and  made  it  easy  for  them  to  acquiesce 
"  readily  in  existing  conditions.  These  charac- 
"  teristics  obtain  among  the  bushveld  and  low 
"  country  population.  Unfortunately,  they  are 
"  common  among  a  great  part  of  the  high  veld 
"  population  as  well.  One  witness  said — 

'  I  consider  that  there  is  a  general  dis- 
" '  inclination  to  manual  labor  by  the  country 
"  '  people,  and  a  great  objection  to  working  for 

'  wages,  because  they  are  usually  nearly  as  low 
"  '  as  Kaffir  wages.  This  is  due  to  idleness  and 

76 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

'  sentiment,  because  most  of  those  termed  as 
'  indigent  would  be  far  better  off  and  compara- 
'  tively  comfortable  if  they  earned  £6  per 
'  month,  at  which  rate  I  think  there  would  be 
*  employment  all  round/  ' 
Paragraph  no: — 

"  Perhaps  the  best  way  of  illustrating  the  back- 
"  ward  condition  of  the  back-country  people  is 
"  to  describe  the  home  life  of  some  typical  repre- 
"  sentatives  of  the  older  population.  There  are, 
"  of  course,  a  large  number  of  progressive  and 
"  up-to-date  Boer  farmers  in  the  Transvaal,  just 
"  as  there  are  many  indolent  and  backward  immi- 
"  grant  settlers.  But  the  older  Boer  population 
"  is  resolutely  retrogressive.  The  system  of 
"  farming  of  the  Boer  is  still  that  of  the  voor- 
"  trekker.  It  cannot  really  be  called  farming  at 
"  all.  It  is  unsystematic,  primitive  and  wasteful. 
"  It  consists  mainly  in  tending  a  few  cattle  and  a 
"  flock  of  sheep  and  goats.  The  principles  of 
"  scientific  stock-breeding  are  not  understood 
"  and  their  importance  is  not  appreciated.  Cattle 
"  are  simply  treated  as  a  convenient  form  of  pro- 
"  perty  and  are  left  mainly  to  themselves.  Agri- 
"  culture  is  limited  to  scratching  a  patch  of 
"  ground  in  which  to  grow  the  mealies,  which 

77 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  form  the  staple  food  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
"  farm,  and  of  which  a  few  bags  may  be  sold  to 
"  a  neighbouring  storekeeper.  The  whole  exist- 
"  ence  of  the  backward  -Boer  farmer  is  arranged 
"  on  a  hand-to-mouth  basis.  His  dwelling- 
"  house  is  generally  of  poor  quality,  his  outhouse 
"  accommodation  ramshackle  and  inadequate,  his 
"  garden,  if  he  has  one  at  all,  untidy  and  unkept. 
'  There  are  no  plantations  of  trees  to  shelter 
"  the  homestead  and  supply  fuel  or  fencing 
"  wood.  When  he  has  money  it  is  often  spent 
"  in  tinned  provisions  inferior  to  the  food  which 
"  he  might  grow  for  himself.  Mealie  porridge  is 
"  cooked  in  large  quantities  on  one  or  two  days 
"  in  the  week  and  left  in  a  bowl  on  the  table,  and 
"  the  children  come  in  and  take  a  piece  when  they 
"  feel  hungry,  without  ever  sitting  down  to  a 
"  proper  meal.  The  clothing  is  usually  old  and 
"  dirty,  except  in  the  case  of  the  young  girls,  who 
"  are  often  dressed  in  cheap  finery.  While  they 
"  have  the  greatest  attachment  to  the  land  which 
"  they  own  they  do  not  seem  to  think  of  making 
"  a  home  upon  it,  as  the  farmers  in  the  older  dis- 
"  tricts  of  the  Cape  Colony  do.  On  the  contrary, 
"  their  whole  scheme  of  life  still  suggests  '  the 
"  trek.' " 

78 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE    BOER — CONTINUED 

I"  F  in  the  foregoing  chapter  I  have  occupied 
myself  largely  with  the  Report  of  the  Royal 
Commission  on  Indigency  of  1908,  it  is  be- 
cause I  desire  to  obviate  any  charge  of  exagger- 
ation. The  true  conditions  of  South  Africa  are 
known  to  so  few  people  abroad  that  any  writer's 
unsupported  statement  of  the  actual  facts  might 
well  be  regarded  with  suspicion.  For  my  own 
part  I  freely  confess  that  when  I  was  first 
informed  that  a  considerable  proportion  of  the 
meagre  white  population  consisted  of  illiterate 
indigents  I  could  not  accept  the  assertion.  Per- 
sonal experience  and  observation,  however,  soon 
compelled  conviction.  Moving  about  among 

79 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

the  people  in  the  rural  districts,  I  found  archaic 
habits  and  manners  the  rule,  modern  methods 
and  ways  of  life  the  exception.  In  the  larger 
towns  most  of  the  people  are  decently  educated 
and  their  views  more  or  less  progressive,  but  in 
the  villages  and  "  dorps "  the  situation  is  re- 
versed; and  the  outer  veld  is  populated  almost 
exclusively  with  men  and  women  who  are 
anachronistic  survivals  of  a  bygone  age.  The 
official  census  for  Cape  Colony,  the  most  forward 
of  all  the  provinces  of  the  Union,  taken  in  1904, 
shows  that  out  of  a  total  white  population  of 
568,000  souls  there  are  134,000  who  can  neither 
read  nor  write.  No  other  state  in  the  civilised 
world  has  such  a  staggering  proportion  of 
illiterates  except  the  Transvaal  and  the  O.R.C. 
provinces,  where  the  conditions  are  as  bad  and 
probably  worse.  South  African  illiteracy  per- 
tains chiefly  to  the  Boer,  i.e.,  to  the  farmer  of 
Dutch  origin.  The  term  "  Boer  "  has  come  of 
late  years  to  signify  the  Dutch  Afrikander  in  a 
generic  sense  :  but  its  real  meaning  is  "  farmer," 
and  the  Dutch  themselves  limit  its  application  to 
those  of  their  race  who  dwell  upon  the  soil.  The 
genesis  of  the  Boer  is  curiously  mixed.  Accord- 
ing to  the  popular  idea  both  in  South  Africa  and 

80 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

elsewhere,  he  is  a  pure-blooded  Dutchman,  but 
that  is  far  from  being  the  case.  South  Africa 
was  originally  colonised  by  Dutchmen  and 
French  Huguenots,  in  the  proportion  of  about 
70  to  30.  The  Dutch  being  in  so  large  a 
majority  lost  no  time  in  assuming  the  upper 
hand.  They  passed  laws  sternly  prohibiting  the 
use  of  the  French  tongue,  and  banning  it  under 
heavy  penalties  from  the  schools.  The  Hugue- 
nots long,  yet  fruitlessly,  protested  against  this 
tyranny,  and  finally  they  submitted  to  the  inevit- 
able. There  followed  a  gradual  amalgamation 
of  the  two  races :  but,  despite  the  overwhelming 
numerical  superiority  of  the  Dutch,  the  French 
blood  strongly  asserted  itself  in  the  resultant  pro- 
duct of  admixture,  and  one  of  the  most  striking 
features  of  Boerdom  observable  throughout 
South  Africa  to-day  is  the  survival  of  distinctive 
French  names,  manners  and  characteristics.  In 
fact,  nearly  all  the  leading  Boer  families,  together 
with  most  of  those  Dutchmen  who,  because  of 
their  superior  education  and  advanced  habits  of 
thought,  occupy  positions  of  commanding  influ- 
ence in  the  provinces  and  in  the  sphere  of 
national  politics  are  direct  descendants  of 
Huguenot  chieftains,  and  very  many  of  them 

81 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

retain  their  French  ancestral  patronymics.  This 
curious  line  of  racial  cleavage  so  universally 
obtains  that  it  may  be  laid  down  as  a  general 
rule  that  the  progressive  Boers  are  those  in 
whose  veins  the  proportion  of  French  blood  is 
comparatively  large,  and  that  the  backward  and 
unprogressive  Boers  are  those  in  whose  veins  the 
proportion  of  French  blood  is  comparatively 
small. 

Four  centuries  of  Dutch  and  French  inter- 
marriage and  mutual  absorption  have  not  availed 
as  yet  completely  to  merge  and  submerge  the 
rival  national  peculiarities  :  and  we  see  in  South 
Africa  at  this  moment  two  separate  classes  of 
Boers,  although  only  one  prevailing  type.  This 
type  is  highly  distinctive,  original  and  interest- 
ing. The  average  Boer,  whatever  may  be  the 
accident  of  his  relative  agents  of  ancestry,  nearly 
always  rings  true  to  the  evolved  racial  model. 
The  women  are  large  of  frame,  fleshy,  and  in  a 
florid  sense,  comely.  The  men  are  magnificent. 
The  typical  Boer  farmer  from  the  veld  stands 
well  over  six  feet  high.  He  has  the  body  of  a 
Hercules,  and  a  big,  shapely  brachycephalic 
head,  with  limitless  capacities  of  mental  de- 
velopment. The  men  usually  wear  beards, 

82 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

beards  that  are  always  thin  and  as  long  as  the 
hair  can  be  trained  to  grow.  To  deal  first  with 
the  majority — that  is  to  say,  the  unprogressive 
Boers — it  should  be  said  at  once  that  they  con- 
stitute one  of  the  gravest  immediate  social 
problems  of  United  South  Africa.  They  dislike 
the  towns,  and  dwell  in  large  numbers  in  the  outer 
veld,  remote  from  civilising  influences.  For 
hundreds  of  years  they  have  led  isolated  lives, 
and  the  standard  of  civilisation  of  the  existing 
generation  belongs  to  the  sixteenth  century.  The 
languorous  climate  of  the  veld,  the  loneliness, 
laziness  and  simple  method  of  their  lives,  and 
the  ease  with  which  they  have  always  been  able 
to  maintain  themselves  on  their  big  holdings 
without  personal  exertion,  by  compelling  the 
natives  to  perform  all  the  work  required  on  their 
farms,  are  factors  which  have  combined  to  pro- 
duce a  singularly  ignorant,  conservative  and 
slothful  people.  An  illustration  will  make  my 
meaning  clear. 

It  was  my  privilege  when  In  the  Transvaal  to 
spend  a  night  and  a  day  in  the  home  of  a  Boer 
who,  as  I  took  care  to  ascertain  beforehand,  was 
a  representative  specimen  of  the  backward  class. 
His  farm  embraced  2,000  acres  of  excellent 

83 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

country,  bordering  the  Vaal  River.  His  house 
was  a  small  hovel  consisting  of  one  room  divided 
into  two  by  a  dirty  Hessian  bag  curtain.  One 
of  these  compartments  belonged  to  the  Boer  and 
his  wife  :  the  other  was  occupied  by  his  children, 
four  in  number,  two  boys  and  two  girls,  all  over 
sixteen  years  of  age.  When  the  sleeping  hour 
arrived  the  Boer  and  his  wife  retired  to  their 
chamber,  and  the  boys  and  I  went  out  on  the 
"  stoep,"  or  verandah,  while  the  girls  undressed 
and  went  to  bed.  When  the  girls  had  effected 
their  dispositions  for  the  night,  we  entered,  took 
off  merely  our  coats  and  lay  down  upon  shake- 
downs on  the  floor  beside  the  girls'  beds.  Soon 
the  whole  family  was  sleeping  like  the  dead. 

I  am  assured  that  the  Boer  lads  seldom  com- 
pletely undress  and  hardly  ever  wash  all  of  their 
bodies.  In  the  morning  we  were  up  betimes.  I 
bathed  in  the  river,  and  was  the  subject  of 
amazed  comment.  "  Surely  only  dirty  people 
wash !  "  The  Boer,  on  my  return,  was  smoking 
on  the  stoep,  and  drinking  coffee.  My  breakfast 
consisted  of  some  mealie  meal,  goat's  milk  and 
coffee.  The  coffee  was  atrocious.  The  family 
ate  from  the  common  porridge  pot  as  often  as 
they  felt  inclined.  There  were  no  regular  meals, 

84 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

except  dinner,  when  meat  was  served — mutton. 
About  10  a.m.  the  Boer  left  off  smoking  and 
ordered  a  Kaffir  to  inspan.  Very  leisurely  then 
he  slaughtered  a  sheep,  skinned  the  beast,  and 
drove  away  to  a  distant  Kaffir  store  in  an  ox  cart 
to  trade  the  skin  for  a  few  pence  worth  of  butter 
and  snuff.  I  roamed  about  the  farm  and  found 
it  sparsely  and  poorly  stocked.  There  were  a 
few  cattle,  a  few  goats,  a  trifling  flock  of  sheep. 
There  was  no  cultivation  on  the  farm,  except 
about  four  acres  of  mealies  planted  for  the  sub- 
sistence of  the  family,  and  about  an  eighth  of  an 
acre  of  tobacco  planted  in  the  back  yard  of  the 
homestead.  Throughout  the  day  nobody  worked 
except  the  Kaffirs  (for  about  i^  hours),  one  of 
whom  was  severely  thrashed  with  a  sjambok  for 
an  inappreciable  offence. 

The  family  loafed  consistently  from  dawn  till 
eve,  lounging  or  sitting  on  the  stoep,  smoking, 
occasionally  drinking  coffee,  and  sometimes,  but 
rarely,  indulging  in  a  little  conversation.  They 
were  all,  from  the  father  to  the  youngest  child, 
hopelessly  illiterate,  and  hardly  less  ignorant 
than  brute  beasts.  There  are  thousands  of 
Boers  scattered  over  South  Africa  who  live  from 
year's  end  to  year's  end  in  much  the  same  manner 

85 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

that  I  have  described.  They  have  no  ambition. 
They  do  not  want  to  better  themselves.  Their 
outlook  is  absolutely  uncommercial,  and  their 
sole  desire  is  to  slide  through  life  as  lazily  as 
lotus  eaters.  Their  only  amusements  are  the 
dance  and  attendance  at  a  periodical  nachtmaal. 
They  live  by  choice  just  as  their  forbears,  the 
first  settlers,  lived  of  necessity :  and  they  detest 
the  thought  of  any  other  plan  of  life. 

The  national  trouble  is  that  those  rootedly  un- 
progressive  people  own  much  of  the  best  land  in 
South  Africa.  They  will  not  use  it  properly 
themselves :  they  will  not  let  others  use  it  pro- 
perly :  and  the  majority  of  them  will  not  or  can- 
not sell.  In  the  last-named  regard,  the  existing 
law  is  a  deadly  enemy  of  progress.  Nearly  all 
the  land  in  the  Transvaal  and  the  Orange  River 
Colony  is  held  on  the  tenure  of  the  old  Roman- 
Dutch  laws,  which  permits  of  entail  and  un- 
divided ownership.  The  Roman-Dutch  law  pro- 
vided that  every  child  is  entitled  to  a  "  legitimate 
portion  "  of  its  father's  estate.  Freedom  of  be- 
quest is  now  allowed  throughout  South  Africa, 
but  the  tradition  that  every  child  should  be  left  a 
share  in  the  paternal  estate  still  survives.  Scores 
of  the  largest  Boer  farms,  in  consequence,  have 

86 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

many  owners,  each  of  whom  holds  an  undivided 
share  of  the  estate.  Many  of  them  are  "  poor 
whites  "  who  have  been  driven  to  the  cities,  owing 
to  an  excess  of  population  growing  up  and  indo- 
lently squatting  on  the  soil.  But  before  any  such 
farms  can  be  sold,  all  the  several  owners — how- 
ever infinitesimal  their  portion — have  to  be  per- 
suaded to  join  in  the  transfer  or  to  break  the 
entail,  a  process  that  is  fearfully  costly,  and 
which  (according  to  the  Master  of  the  Supreme 
Court  in  the  Transvaal)  often  takes  from  three 
to  five  years  to  effectuate,  even  though  most  of 
the  owners  are  willing  to  sell.  Undivided 
ownership,  in  short,  makes  land  practically  un- 
saleable and  withdraws  it  from  the  market.  It 
leads  to  bad  farming,  indolence  and  general 
backwardness.  All  the  owners  have  equal  rights 
everywhere,  and  on  a  question  for  the  common 
good  they  cannot  readily  agree.  The  one  thing 
on  which  they  find  it  easy  to  concur  is  to  let 
things  slide  and  trust  the  issue  to  Providence. 

Under  these  conditions  the  indigent  rural 
population  has  been  produced,  and  indigence  is 
continually  increasing.  If  the  land  were  pro- 
ductively utilised  there  need  not  be  a  "  poor 
white  "  in  the  country :  but  the  backward  Boers 

87 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

will  not  cultivate  more  of  their  holdings  than 
barely  sufficient  to  support  life,  and  the  dreadful 
caste  system,  which  gives  the  Kaffirs  a  rigid 
monopoly  of  all  rough  labor,  both  in  town  and 
country,  effectually  excludes  poor  whites  from 
employment  on  the  soil.  Boer  backwardness 
and  the  land  tenure  system,  which  so  powerfully 
operates  to  bar  more  progressive  settlement,  are 
largely  accountable  for  the  racial  feeling  that 
rages  between  the  Boers  and  British.  The 
British  want  land,  but  cannot  get  it.  They  are 
therefore  forced  to  remain  cooped  up  in  the 
towns  and  cities.  They  cannot  galvanise  the  un- 
progressive  Boers  into  activity,  and  their  impo- 
tence to  improve  what  cries  so  sorely  for  improve- 
ment makes  them  bitterly  intolerant  of  the 
human  agents  of  stagnation.  The  Boers  re- 
taliate by  sticking  closely  to  their  farms,  and  by 
disdainfully  refusing  any  intercourse  with  the 
British.  All  told,  it  is  a  most  sorry  and  futile 
situation,  and  it  cannot  be  cured  until  the  tenures 
created  under  the  Roman-Dutch  law  have  been 
abrogated,  and  until  some  enlightened  scheme  of 
compulsory  universal  education  shall  have 
wrested  the  rising  generation  of  Boers  from  the 

88 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

old  ways  of  thinking  and  the  miserably  inept 
fashion  of  their  lives. 

It  is  a  relief  to  turn  from  contemplation  of  the 
idle,  listless  and  ignorant  back  veld  Boers  to  the 
modernised  and  educated  section  of  the  race. 
Unfortunately,  the  cultured  Boers  are  not  yet  a 
numerous  class,  but  they  are  nevertheless  already 
a  tremendous  power  in  the  land,  and  the  future 
of  South  Africa  is  in  their  hands.  It  would  be 
impossible  to  discover,  the  wide  world  over,  a 
stronger,  and  in  every  sense  a  more  satisfactory, 
human  type.  The  women  are  bright,  intelligent 
and  witty.  The  men  are  little  short  of  intel- 
lectual giants.  Educate  the  average  Boer,  and 
the  result  is  a  man  whose  mentality,  strength  of 
character,  energy,  initiative  and  resource  can 
compare  favorably  with  the  highest  types  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race.  Many  of  the  Boer  Minis- 
terialists now  legislating  in  the  Union  Parlia- 
ment, although  mostly  self  taught,  are  men  of 
extraordinary  culture  and  capacity,  and  man  for 
man  they  completely  overshadow  the  intellectual 
forces  of  the  British  Opposition.  My  experience 
has  impressed  upon  me  a  profound  conviction 
that  the  average  Boer — however  uneducated  he 
may  be — is  possessed  of  natural  abilities  which 

89 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

only  need  development  to  make  him  intellectu- 
ally the  equal  of  the  best  European  minds. 

Nor  is  it  surprising  that  this  should  be  so,  for 
the  average  Boer,  whether  educated  or  unedu- 
cated, is  farm-bred,  and  he  has  lived  most  of  his 
life  in  the  open  air,  and  if  we  examine  the  con- 
ditions of  his  birth  and  breeding,  we  always  find 
that  the  magnificent  stature  which  surprises  us 
afresh  every  time  we  look  upon  him,  represents 
a  practical  illustration  of  the  truth  of  Darwin's 
doctrine  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest.  The  truth 
is  that  the  average  Boer  farm  house  is  no  nursery 
of  weaklings.  The  surroundings  are  so  filthy, 
insanitary  and  rough,  and  the  Boer  housewife's 
ignorance  of  the  simplest  duties  of  motherhood 
is  so  dense,  that,  although  many  babies  are  born, 
few  outlast  their  infancy.  Child  mortality  on 
the  veld  is  positively  appalling,  and  were  it  not 
that  the  Boers  are  enormously  prolific  the  race 
would  have  long  since  tapered  towards  extinc- 
tion. The  secret  of  the  astonishing  physical  and 
mental  virility  of  this  people  is  that  death 
promptly  and  remorselessly  culls  out  the  in- 
efficients.  Those  only  survive  who  are  born 
strong  and  hardy  enough  to  be  disease-proof 
from  their  birth,  and  that  is  why  the  stranger  to 

90 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

this  country  searches  in  vain  for  an  undersized  or 
sickly  Boer.  There  are  many  such,  but  they  are 
infants,  and  nearly  all  are  underground. 

The  Boers  of  the  veld  have  hands  like  women  : 
soft,  white  (when  washed),  and  unmarked  with  the 
signs  of  labor.  Imagine  a  British  working 
farmer  with  soft  white  hands,  the  skin  as  smooth 
as  satin !  The  Boer  farmer,  however,  does  not 
work.  He  owes  his  manual  exquisiteness  to  the 
Kaffir.  The  Kaffir's  hands  are  rough  enough. 
He  works.  The  veld  Boer's  ideals  of  life  are 
sensual.  He  exists  for  the  pleasures  of  the  flesh. 
He  eats  hugely.  He  marries  early.  He  lives 
in  his  wife's  apron  pocket.  The  woman  who 
commands  universal  Boer  admiration  is  the 
sturdily  built,  well-sexed  house  frau, — the  big 
feeder  and  big  breeder.  The  following  account 
of  an  exalted  specimen  of  the  popular  type  was 
published  in  a  recent  number  of  the  "  Volks- 
stem  "  : — 

'  Theilar  M.  de  Beer :  born  October  2Oth, 
"  1832,  married  at  18,  Petrus  Jacobus  Lubbe,  I 
"  child.  Husband  died  in  two  years.  After 
"  being  10  months  a  widow  married  Nicolaas 
"  Marthinius  Pretorious,  a  widower  with  3 
"children.  Lived  with  him  17  months  when  he 

91 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  died,  leaving  her  with  4  children.  After  5 
"  months  widowhood  she  married  David  Steph- 
"  anus  Pieterse,  a  widower  with  7  children. 
"  Lived  with  him  1 1  years  and  bore  7  children. 
"  He  died.  After  5  years  singleness  married 
"  Daniel  Lodewiekus  Cronje,  a  widower  with  8 
"  children.  She  lived  with  him  1 1  years  and 
"  had  4  children.  He  died.  Five  years  later 
"  she  married  Hendrik  Klopper.  Lived  with 
"  him  1 1  years  and  bore  10  children.  He  died. 
"  Two  years  later  married  Coenraad  Hendrik  von 
"  Wijk,  a  widower  with  5  children.  Lived  with 
"  him  1 1  years  and  bore  him  4  children.  He 
"  died.  Theila  M.  de  Beer  is  still  alive,  aged 
"  78  years.  There  are  50  persons  living  who 
"  call  her  mother.  She  has  270  grandchildren." 
The  Boers  are  proud  of  this  lady's  record. 
Such  women  are  patterns  and  exemplars  :  objects 
of  public  veneration.  The  veld  Boers  are  evi- 
dently not  a  decadent  race  despite  their  stubborn 
backwardness  :  yet  they  have  the  aggressiveness 
of  a  type  that  is  assailed.  They  are  aggressive 
in  everything.  Their  voices  are  harsh  and 
strident  and  challenging.  They  are  extremely 
clannish.  Their  solidarity  is  absolute.  Their 
attitude  to  outsiders  is  sullen,  suspicious  and 

92 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

vindictive.  Their  moral  sense  is  primitive. 
"  Verneukery  "  is  a  practice  which  wins  smiles 
of  approbation  whenever  an  instance  of  its  suc- 
cessful operation  is  related.  Verneukery  is  the 
art  of  getting  the  better  of  an  opponent  by 
trickery  and  deception.  To  be  "  slim,"  that  is 
to  say,  to  show  cleverness  in  the  management  of 
affairs  of  the  wily  and  less  scrupulous  sort,  is  to 
be  admired.  "  Slimness  "  in  fact,  is  accounted 
as  something  very  like  a  social  virtue,  and  it 
rather  inspires  confidence  than  provokes  distrust. 
The  Boers  have  a  proverb :  "  One  can  have  too 
much  regard  for  the  truth."  It  expresses  their 
moral  sense  very  accurately. 

NOTE. — Up  to  the  present  moment  (December,  1912)  the  only 
noteworthy  attempt  that  has  been  made  by  the  South  African 
Government  to  grapple  with  the  problems  of  the  "  by-woner  "  and 
the  indigent  white  population,  consists  in  the  enaction  during  the 
session  of  1912  of  a  Land  Settlement  Bill.  This  measure  permits  of 
the  granting  of  small  areas  of  land  to  the  indigents  and  by-woners, 
and  also  provides  for  advances  of  public  money  to  the  grantees  at 
lower  rates  of  interest  than  would  be  charged  in  the  usual  course  of 
business,  in  order  to  facilitate  productive  settlement  on  the  granted 
holdings.  The  measure  has  potentialities  of  usefulness  if  it  be 
wisely,  patiently,  and  capably  administered,  but  it  has  not  yet 
achieved  any  results  and,  of  necessity,  many  years  must  elapse  be- 
fore it  can  possibly  ameliorate  the  conditions  with  which  it  proposes 
to  deal.  Of  itself  it  can  never  abrogate  indigence,  for  the  reason 
that  it  does  not  strike  at  the  causes  of  the  disease,  but  merely  treats 
the  symptoms.  In  short,  it  is  a  palliative  and  nothing  more. 


93 


CHAPTER  VII 

POLITICS 

the  least  remarkable  feature  in  South 
African  life  is  the  fact  that  the  political 
thought  of  the  country  is,  broadly  speak- 
ing, unprogressive.  There  are  two  great  oppos- 
ing parties  in  the  National  Parliament,  but  the 
only  serious  issue  which  divides  them  is  the  racial 
question.  Apart  from  that,  they  aim  at  cognate 
goals,  they  profess  the  same  ideals,  and  their 
policies  are  undistinguishable.  Both  parties  are 
essentially  conservative.  The  Dutch  National- 
ists, led  by  General  Botha,  represent  in  chief  the 
people  of  the  veld,  and  their  fundamental  raison 
d'etre  is  to  protect  the  farmer  from  taxation,  to 
preserve  him  in  the  undisturbed  possession  of  his 

94 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

holdings,  to  maintain  his  old-time  privileges 
intact,  and  to  assure  him  a  continued  supply  of 
cheap  black  labor.  The  Unionists  represent  the 
people  of  the  cities  and  the  mines,  and  they  have 
kindred  objects  to  promote.  The  mining  mag- 
nate is  their  special  protege.  It  is  their  business 
to  see  that  the  mines  shall  never  lack  an  abun- 
dance of  colored  labor :  to  take  care  that  the 
capitalists  shall  not  be  distressed  with  any  such 
legislative  attempts  to  redress  social  evils  and 
industrial  grievances  as  might  result  in  increas- 
ing the  cost  of  gold  and  diamond  production :  to 
protect  the  aristocracy  of  skilled  white  workers 
from  the  encroachments  of  educated  blacks,  and 
finally  to  maintain  undisturbed  the  negro 
monopoly  of  the  unskilled  labor  market. 

The  two  parties  regard  each  other's  special 
objects  with  sympathy.  They  are  at  daggers 
drawn  on  the  language  and  education,  that  is  to 
say,  the  racial  question,  but  on  most  other  matters 
they  are  perfectly  willing  to  give  and  take. 
There  is  a  tacit  agreement  between  them  to 
scratch  each  other's  backs.  No  Dutchman  wants 
to  hurt  the  mining  magnate,  and  on  the  other 
hand  no  British  Unionist  is  at  all  eager  to  hurt 
the  farmer.  Everybody  recognises  that  the  agri- 

95 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

cultural  progress  of  the  country  is  being  ob- 
structed and  retarded  by  the  curse  of  over  large 
and  unwieldy  estates,  and  by  the  laziness,  general 
thriftlessness  and  archaic  methods  of  the  Boer 
agrestic  population.  But  there  is  no  serious  in- 
tention anywhere  manifest  to  apply  legislative 
pressure  to  make  the  farmer  reduce  the  size  of  his 
holding  or  bring  his  land  into  productive  occu- 
pation. There  is  talk  of  reform,  it  is  true,  but  it 
is  all  in  the  direction  of  persuasive  effort.  The 
Boer  farmer  must  be  taught,  both  parties  say, 
that  it  is  in  his  own  best  interest  to  put  his  land 
to  the  best  possible  use  :  but  when  asked  how 
they  propose  to  accomplish  this  important  duty, 
they  reply  : — "  We  will  gradually  wean  him  from 
"  his  old-fashioned  ways  by  showing  him  what 
"  well  managed  State  farms  can  do."  In  other 
words,  the  South  African  farmer,  who  has  always 
been  the  petted  darling  of  the  State,  who  has 
always  been  held  immune  from  any  form  of  tax- 
ation, who  has  always  been,  and  still  is,  the 
greatest  obstacle  to  the  national  development, 
and  who  has  shown  himself  in  a  thousand  ways 
to  be  conservative  and  scornfully  impervious  to 
instruction,  is  to  have  his  ancient  privileges, 
exemptions  and  immunities  preserved  inviolate. 

96 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

By  way  of  a  graceful  return  to  the  Unionists 
for  so  kindly  consenting  to  leave  the  Boer  farmer 
alone,  the  Dutch  Nationalists  are  prepared  to 
help  the  mining  magnates  and  other  capitalists 
in  every  way  possible.  It  is  evident  to  all  who 
have  eyes  to  see  that  the  white  laborer  must  ulti- 
mately go  to  the  wall  in  South  Africa  unless  the 
caste  prejudice  which  now  prevents  a  white  man 
doing  unskilled  work  is  broken  down.  The 
mining  magnate,  however,  cares  nothing  for  the 
future  of  white  labor.  His  fixed  ambition  is  to 
earn  big  dividends  as  long  as  he  can :  therefore, 
he  cries  continually  for  more  cheap  unskilled 
black  workers,  and  does  his  utmost  to  fortify  the 
prevailing  caste  prejudice.  Strange  to  say,  he 
is  helped  in  both  directions  by  the  expert  white 
artisans  in  his  employ.  The  reason  is  that  the 
vast  majority  of  the  artisans  now  working  on  the 
mines  and  in  other  trades  in  South  Africa  con- 
sists of  foreign  immigrants  drawn  from  the  over- 
crowded European  centres  of  population. 
Accustomed  in  the  countries  of  their  origin  to 
labor  for  a  pittance,  they  are  supremely  content 
with  the  superior  conditions  and  high  wages 
obtaining  at  present  in  the  land  of  their  adoption. 
They  get  from  £  i  to  3O/-  a  day  in  South  Africa 

97 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

where  in  Europe  they  hardly  earned  as  much  per 
week.  They  have  all  the  rough  parts  of  their 
work  performed  for  them  by  Kaffirs.  They 
seldom  need  to  soil  their  hands,  and  they  live 
like  gentlemen.  Being,  for  the  most  part,  unedu- 
cated, selfish  and  short-sighted  men,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  persuade  them  that  the  advantages  they 
now  enjoy  will  not  last  for  ever.  They  see  their 
children  growing  up  deprived  of  any  opportunity 
to  become  skilled  workers  because  shut  off  by 
the  caste  prejudice  from  the  ordinary  primary 
avenues  of  trade  instruction.  They  see  trained 
Kaffirs  constantly  taking  the  place  of  the  whites. 
They  see  the  number  of  expert  white  workers 
constantly  reduced  in  proportion  to  the  rapidly 
increasing  numbers  of  colored  laborers.  But 
these  facts  carry  little  or  no  meaning  to  their 
minds.  Their  attitude  may  be  expressed  in  a 
sentence  : — "  We  are  happy — after  us  the  deluge. 
"  Who  cares  for  that  ?  We  shan't  be  there  to 
"  see."  Their  sole  thought  is  to  restrict  com- 
petition in  the  skilled  labor  market  in  order  to 
ensure  the  maintenance  of  their  own  good  for- 
tune, and  so  they  vote  the  conservative  ticket 
every  time,  decry  immigration,  and  shut  their 
eyes  and  ears  to  all  other  liberal  ideals. 

98 


In  these  circumstances  the  captains  of  South 
African  industry  experience  no  difficulty  worthy 
of  mention  in  doing  and  getting  what  they  want. 
Assisted  by  their  purblind  tools,  the  white  labor- 
ing aristocrats  in  their  employ,  they  have  secured 
a  political  power  and  representation  of  inordinate 
dimensions,  and  as  the  Dutch  Nationalists 
neither  desire  nor  dare  to  oppose  them  they  may 
be  described  with  perfect  truth  to-day  as  the 
industrial  dictators  of  the  country.  There  is,  of 
course,  one  cloud  on  their  political  horizon — the 
political  labor  party.  But  it  is  a  very  small  cloud 
— consisting  of  only  three  members  in  a  House 
of  75,  and  it  causes  the  magnates  no  serious 
alarm.  Poor  little  Labor  party !  There  is 
something  infinitely  pathetic  in  its  present  posi- 
tion. Of  right,  the  support  of  every  white 
manual  worker  in  South  Africa  belongs  to  it.  for 
its  ideals  are  broad-minded,  progressive  and 
democratic,  without  being  tainted  or  defaced  with 
rabid  Socialistic  doctrine.  It  aims  at  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  South  African  democracy :  the 
opening  up  of  the  unskilled  labor  market  to  the 
whites :  the  destruction  of  caste  prejudice :  uni- 
versal compulsory  education :  a  standard  living 
wage  :  an  eight  hours  day,  and  equality  of  oppor- 

99 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

tunity  for  all.  Yet  it  is  scorned  and  despised  by 
the  people  whom,  and  whose  children,  it  seeks  to 
benefit.  The  unions  look  at  it  askance.  The 
mining  magnates  fear  it,  and  have  declared  war 
against  it — penalising  with  dismissal  any  of  their 
employes  who  venture  to  join  its  ranks.  The 
Dutch  Nationalists  ignore  its  existence,  and  the 
Unionists  treat  it  as  a  joke.  As  an  illustration 
of  its  absolute  insignificance  in  this  thoroughly 
and  essentially  aristocratic  country,  it  is  worth 
while  recalling  the  incident  of  the  Australian 
Prime  Minister's  departure  from  Capetown  on 
loth  December,  1910. 

Mr.  Fisher  sailed  about  five  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon.  The  day  was  bright,  the  weather 
mild  and  balmy :  it  was  Saturday,  and  all  the 
manual  workers  in  the  city  were,  in  consequence, 
at  liberty.  The  occasion  seemed  to  demand  a 
great  Labor  demonstration.  An  attempt  was 
made,  indeed,  to  arrange  one.  The  result  was 
pitiful.  There  assembled  on  the  wharf  to  bid 
good-bye  to  the  Prime  Minister  and  leader  of 
the  Labor  party  in  Australia,  two  Labor  members 
of  the  Union  Parliament  and  exactly  five  local 
Labor  sympathisers.  One  of  the  Labor  mem- 
bers present  pointed  to  the  little  gathering  and 

100 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

said  in  a  tone  between  tears  and  laughter,  "  Now, 
"  perhaps,  you  will  understand  more  clearly  the 
"  place  we  occupy,  the  forces  we  have  to  fight." 
Yet  on  this  meagre  party,  numerically  con- 
temptible as  it  now  is,  rest  all  the  hopes  which 
any  well-wisher  can  form  of  South  Africa's 
social,  industrial  and  political  development.  It 
is  the  only  force  in  the  continent  which  has  dared 
to  part  company  with  laissez-faire,  and  it  repre- 
sents the  only  section  of  the  people  which  is  pro- 
foundly dissatisfied  with  existing  conditions  and 
is  determinedly  bent  upon  reforms.  The  fight 
will  be  a  long  one  and  a  hard  one,  for  all  too 
many  of  the  present  generation  are  rootedly 
conservative.  The  movement  has  not  been 
auspiciously  started,  nevertheless  it  is  bound  to 
grow  and  gather  strength  as  it  proceeds,  for  it  is 
controlled  by  generous,  able  and  rarely  unselfish 
spirits — men  like  Mr.  Cresswell  and  Senator 
Whiteside,  who  have  made  great  personal  sacri- 
fices for  the  sake  of  the  ideal  inspiring  them — 
and  it  stands  for  all  that  is  best  and  most  creative 
in  the  political  thought  and  social  aspirations  of 
the  State. 


101 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  RULERS  OF  THE  COUNTRY 

nPHERE  are  three  big  men  in  South  Africa 
in  whose  hands  it  may  be  said  with  truth 
the  country's  political  destinies  of  the  near 
future  reside.     All  three  are  Boer  patriots  and 
soldiers — Generals  Botha,  Smuts  and  Hertzog. 
They  lead  and  control  the  present  Union  Minis- 
try and  its  supporters. 

General  Louis  Botha  is  a  tall,  heavily  built 
man,  just  entering  his  $oth  year.  His  com- 
plexion is  sallow,  his  eyes  and  hair  are  jetty 
black,  and  he  wears  a  tire-bouchon  beard,  as 
though  to  emphasise  deliberately  the  characteris- 
tics of  his  Huguenot  descent,  which  uncon- 
sciously display  themselves  in  gestures  when- 

102 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

ever  he  is  strongly  moved.  General  Botha 
began  life  as  a  farmer.  In  1884  he  trekked  to 
Vryheid,  and  played  an  active  part  in  the  creation 
of  the  new  Republic,  holding  office  as  Native 
Commissioner  until  the  incorporation  of  the 
Republic  in  the  Transvaal  in  1888.  For  eight 
years  subsequently  he  was  a  commissioner  and 
field-cornet  for  the  Transvaal  Government.  His 
rapid  rise  to  fame  during  the  last  South  African 
war  need  not  be  recalled.  It  is  sufficient  to  say 
that  he  evinced  qualities  of  heart  and  mind  in  the 
course  of  his  campaigning  which  not  only  en- 
deared him  to  his  countrymen,  but  marked  him 
out  as  pre-eminently  fitted  to  be  the  first  Prime 
Minister  of  a  united  Boer-British  South  Africa. 
General  Botha  is  a  supreme  type  of  the  self- 
made  man.  He  had  little  if  any  schooling.  He 
taught  himself  to  read  and  write,  and  it  is  only 
during  quite  recent  years  that  he  has  troubled 
his  head  about  the  graces  of  life.  Such,  however, 
is  his  genius  that  to-day  no  more  highly  cultured 
gentleman  can  be  found  in  the  sub-continent. 
Undoubtedly  his  most  valuable  personal  asset  is 
a  fund  of  tact  which  enables  him  to  reconcile  the 
bitterest  antagonisms  and  to  win  the  confidence 
and  sympathy  of  friends  and  opponents  with 

103 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

almost  equal  facility.  In  conversing  with  him 
one  is  charmed  into  at  least  a  temporary  acqui- 
escence with  his  point  of  view,  and  so  gentle  are 
his  methods,  so  magnetically  engaging  his  man- 
ners, that  all  sense  of  the  virility  and  unbending 
strength  of  purpose  of  the  man  is  forgotten.  It 
is  only  when  time  and  consideration  have  worn 
through  the  influences  exerted  by  his  personality 
that  one  remembers  and  fully  recognises  the  iron 
forces  that  operate  behind  his  velvety,  soft,  im- 
penetrable mask.  General  Botha  is  a  man  of 
mystery.  He  is  liked  by  all  the  people  of  South 
Africa,  and  no  less  by  the  Dutch  extremists  than 
by  those  British  who  most  intemperately  abhor 
the  Dutch.  He  speaks  all  parties  fair,  and  each 
party  believes  that  his  utterances  to  it  alone  are 
true.  Whether  he  is  a  sincere  Imperialist,  or, 
on  the  contrary,  a  Boer  of  the  old  school,  but  one 
man  in  the  world  can  say  for  certain.  That  man 
is  General  Louis  Botha. 

General  J.  C.  Smuts,  who  is  eight  years 
younger  than  his  chief,  is  a  very  different  sort  of 
man.  He  was  educated  at  Victoria  College, 
where  he  graduated  with  double  honours  in  1891. 
Proceeding  to  Cambridge  University,  he  gradu- 
ated at  law  with  a  double  first,  and  then  repaired 

104 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

to  Capetown  and  Johannesburg,  where  he  prac- 
tised at  the  bar  until  1898,  when  he  became 
Attorney- General  in  Paul  Kruger's  Government. 
When  the  war  broke  out  he  served  with  distinc- 
tion under  Joubert  in  Natal,  and  at  a  later  stage 
he  held  an  independent  command,  and  was  one 
of  the  principal  negotiators  of  the  Treaty  of 
Vereeniging.  After  the  peace  he  returned  to  his 
practice  at  the  bar,  and  also  played  a  prominent 
part  in  the  political  life  of  the  Transvaal,  joining 
the  Botha  Cabinet  as  Colonial  Secretary  on  the 
grant  of  responsible  government  in  1907. 
General  Smuts  was  formerly  Minister  of  Internal 
Affairs  and  Defence  for  the  Union,  but  since 
the  reconstruction  of  the  Ministry  he  has  re- 
linquished the  Department  of  the  Interior  and 
become  Minister  of  Finance.  He  may  be  best 
described  as  a  born  politician  and  Parliamen- 
tarian. He  appears  to  possess  a  deep  intuitive 
knowledge  of  every  trick  and  turn  of  the  game, 
and  nothing  delights  him  more  than  an  oppor- 
tunity to  display  his  cleverness.  He  is  a  brilliant 
man  in  every  sense  of  the  expression,  and  is 
generally  admitted  to  be  the  "  brains  of  the 
"  Ministry."  General  Smuts's  outstanding 
ability,  however,  is  marred  to  some  extent  and 

105 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

despoiled  of  its  proper  merit  and  reward  by  an 
unfortunate  disposition  to  reach  his  goal  by 
strategical  rather  than  by  direct  paths.  Pride  of 
intellect,  perhaps,  is  the  cause  of  it :  but  the  trait 
is  not  one  to  be  extolled,  and  it  is  accumulating 
for  the  General  a  formidable  list  of  enemies 
amongst  those  he  has  outmatched  in  political 
dexterity.  His  reputation  is  already  tainted 
with  a  suspicion  of  "  slimness,"  but  he  is  either 
unconscious  or  indifferent.  He  is  indispensable 
to  the  Government,  and  General  Botha  leans 
upon  his  talents  without  concealment.  In  per- 
son, General  Smuts  is  quite  the  representative 
Boer  of  the  better  class.  He  is  broad  shouldered, 
tall  and  slim;  strong  of  limb  and  abounding  in 
vital  energy.  His  features  are  regular,  his  ex- 
pression is  full  of  cheer  :  he  wears  a  fair  Vandyck 
beard  which  masks  a  mouth  now  mobile  and 
suave  as  that  of  a  Borgia,  now  stark,  hard  and 
unyielding. 

General  J.  Barry  Munnik  Hertzog,  Minister 
of  Justice  and  Minister  of  Native  Affairs  for  the 
Union,  is  just  turned  46  years  of  age.  '  Like 
General  Smuts,  he  has  had  a  brilliant  University 
career  (he  is  Doctor  of  Laws) :  he  held  a  dis- 
tinguished command  in  the  Boer  War,  and  he 

1 06 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

helped  to  negotiate  the  peace  of  Vereeniging. 
But  there  all  resemblance  between  the  pair 
ceases.  General  Hertzog  is  a  man  utterly  in- 
capable of  dissimulation,  slimness  or  diplomacy. 
He  is  a  stout  patriot  and  a  Boer  of  extremist 
views.  His  character  is  downright  and  trans- 
parently simple.  Nothing  could  induce  him  to 
compromise  with  his  convictions  or  to  withhold 
their  fullest  and  frankest  utterance.  He  is  as 
staunch  and  as  honest  as  the  sun  :  an  unfailing 
friend,  a  relentless  enemy.  The  Boers  have 
given  their  hearts  beyond  recall  into  his  keeping. 
He  is  their  most  completely  trusted  champion, 
and  his  inclusion  in  the  Botha  Ministry  is  re- 
garded as  the  surest  pledge  and  guarantee  of 
Dutch  solidarity  and  the  continuexl  supremacy 
of  the  race.  The  simplicity,  sincerity,  and  sterl- 
ing honesty  of  General  Hertzog  are  forces  that 
promise  him  a  greater  career  in  South  Africa  than 
could  be  ensured  by  mere  capacity.  Yet  he  is  a 
remarkably  able  man  as  well.  His  range  of 
learning  is  wide  and  deep.  He  is  familiar  with 
the  best  literature  of  the  three  greatest  languages. 
He  fully  understands  the  problems  that  confront 
his  country,  and  he  has  devoted  his  life  to  their 
solution.  Unhappily,  he  likes  Englishmen  so 

107 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

little  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to  break 
bread  at  the  table  of  a  British  Prince.  His 
physique  is  less  commanding  than  that  of  any 
of  his  colleagues.  Slightly  under  the  average 
height  of  his  countrymen,  his  figure,  nevertheless, 
is  strong  and  stocky.  His  face  is  grim  and  stern, 
the  brows  broad,  the  eyes  suggest  a  cast,  the 
mouth  is  firm  and  stubborn.  He  wears  a  short 
moustache :  his  chin,  breaking  all  Boer  rules,  is 
shaven.  The  description  may  appear  unattrac- 
tive, but  no  mere  description  of  his  person  could 
do  General  Hertzog  justice,  since  all  manifesta- 
tion of  his  power  and  charm  (and  he  has  much  of 
both)  reside  in  his  manner.  That  is  rarely 
fascinating,  and  he  is  moreover  one  of  the  most 
fluent,  witty  and  entertaining  conversationalists 
that  the  community  can  boast. 

NOTE. — General  Hertzog  is  no  longer  a  member  of  the  Union 
Government.  About  the  middle  of  last  December  he  gave  utterance 
to  a  strongly  anti-Imperial  speech,  which  caused  so  much  offence 
to  the  Prime  Minister  that  General  Botha  promptly  tendered  his 
resignation  to  the  Governor.  General  Botha  subsequently  formed  a 
new  Administration,  from  which  General  Hertzog  was  excluded.  More 
than  ever,  now,  General  Hertzog  leads  and  represents  that  section  of 
the  South  African  community  which  is  anti-British  in  sentiment,  which 
is  irreconcilably  antipathetic  to  Imperial  ideals,  and  aims  at  the 
"  Dutchification  "  of  the  sub-continent.  The  action  of  General 
Christian  De  Wet  in  resigning  from  the  Union  Council  of  Defence, 
as  a  protest  against  the  exclusion  of  General  Hertzog  from  the 
reconstructed  Cabinet,  demonstrates  how  idolatrously  the  latter  is 
regarded  by  Boers  of  the  older  school.  As  a  free-lance  politician 
General  Hertzog  bids  fair  to  prove  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  his  late 
Ministerial  associates.  The  formation  of  an  extremist  Dutch  Party 
in  the  constituencies  and  in  Parliament  may  be  confidently  predicted. 

1 08 


CHAPTER  IX 

GEOLOGICAL   AND    GENERAL 

T  N  its  geological  structure,  South  Africa  may  be 
roughly  divided  into  three  great  regions — 
(i)  that  of  the  ancient  rocks  of  the  interior, 
comprising  the  Transvaal,  Rhodesia,  Bechuana- 
land  and  the  Western  plains :  (2)  the  Karoo 
region,  and  (3)  the  mountainous  region  between 
the  Karroo  and  the  south  coast.  The  first  of 
these  regions  consists  of  very  old  sedimentary 
rocks  that  have  been  intruded  upon  by  granite 
and  diorite;  and  of  still  more  ancient  sedi- 
mentary beds.  These  rocks  yield  the  whole  of 
the  country's  output  of  metallic  wealth.  In  the 
flat  interior  they  are  overlain  with  thick  deposits 
of  sand.  The  greater  part  of  this  area  is  grass- 

109 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

covered  veld,  and  the  rainfall  ranges  from  18  to 
20  inches. 

The  second  region  is  a  dry  and  monotonous 
tract,  infinitely  dreary  and  desolate.  Great 
piles  of  volcanic  rocks,  with  frequent  sheets 
and  dykes  of  ironstone,  rise  from  the  flat 
beds,  and  the  only  mineral  to  be  found  is  coal. 
The  chief  feature  in  the  Karroo  scenery  is  the 
repeated  apparition  of  table-shaped  and  sharp 
pointed  mountains  formed  by  the  denudation  of 
soft  rocks  capped  with  hard  diorite  or  sandstone. 
There  are  more  than  100,000  square  miles  of  this 
waste.  Verdure  is  unknown.  Few  deserts  have 
a  more  stern  and  forbidding  aspect,  and  the 
average  annual  rainfall  is  only  about  10  inches. 
The  land  is  destitute  of  grass,  but  is  covered  with 
sparse  growths  of  a  tiny  brown  shrub  (the 
"  karroo  "  plant),  which  looks  like  stunted  sun- 
parched  broom  :  nevertheless  this  uninviting  stuff 
supports  animal  life,  and  wherever  water  can  be 
conserved  yields  nourishment  to  thousands  of 
sheep  and  goats. 

The  third  region  is  built  up  principally  of 
rocks,  intermediate  in  age  between  those  of  the 
first  and  second  regions,  thrown  into  arches  and 
troughs.  It  is  distinguished  by  a  well  distributed 

no 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

rainfall  of  from  20  to  39  inches,  and  by  frequent 
rich  strips  of  alluvium,  and  in  consequence  is  the 
chief  agricultural  region  of  South  Africa.  Most 
of  the  South  African  diamonds  come  from 
peculiar  rocks  that  fill  the  vents  of  extinct  vol- 
canoes. The  productive  "  pipes  "  are  few,  and 
the  river  diamonds  have  all  been  washed  from 
such  pipes  in  ancient  times. 

The  rivers  are  not  numerous,  and  far  between. 
None  are  navigable  beyond  their  estuaries,  save 
the  Limpopo,  the  Zangwe,  and  the  Zambesi, 
and  the  more  southern  streams  do  not  run  all  the 
year  round.  All  are  liable  to  sudden  floods, 
which  sweep  down  from  the  glassy,  treeless 
mountains  with  torrential  violence  as  often  as 
rain  falls,  and  render  the  fords  impassable  till 
they  subside.  In  my  journey  of  more  than  5,000 
miles  through  and  across  the  sub-continent,  I 
found  evidence  at  almost  every  turn  of  the  ter- 
rible mischief  caused  to  the  country  through  its 
lack  of  larger  vegetation.  The  hills  and  moun- 
tains, being  for  the  most  part  absolutely  destitute 
of  trees,  are  unable  to  hold  or  check  the  down- 
ward flow  of  the  waters  which  fall  from  the 
heavens  on  their  sides.  They  are  usually  as 
bare  and  bleak  as  polished  steel.  When  it  rains, 

in 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

therefore,  a  thousand  foaming  cataracts  dash  of 
a  sudden  like  destructive  furies  into  the  valleys 
and  upon  the  plains,  and  every  rain  storm  tears 
and  scores  new  and  unnumbered  watercourses 
through  the  alluvial  overburden  of  the  foothills 
and  the  flats.  Thus  whole  districts  are  laid  waste 
in  the  course  of  a  few  moments,  and  the  patient 
labor  of  the  farmer  may  vanish  into  nothingness 
before  his  eyes.  The  people  call  these  "  wash- 
outs "  dongas.  Their  number  is  legion,  and 
every  district  groans  perennially  beneath  their 
accursed  visitations. 

There  is  no  blinking  the  fact  that  the  major 
portion  of  South  Africa  is  a  desert  and  can  never 
be  aught  else.  The  agricultural  future  of  the 
sub-continent  is  beset  with  innumerable  difficul- 
ties, hardships,  handicaps  and  perils.  The  culti- 
vation of  wheat  and  other  cereals  can  only  be 
prosperously  undertaken  in  certain  highly 
favored  and  rigidly  restricted  localities,  owing  to 
the  circumstance  that  in  most  places  rain  only 
falls  in  the  summer  months,  and  in  winter  the 
country  becomes  a  parched,  cold  and  arid  wilder- 
ness. Few  of  the  South  African  rivers  are  used 
extensively  for  irrigation,  and  there  are  no  great 
national  irrigation  works.  A  large  aggregate 

112 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

area  is  under  irrigated  culture,  especially  in  the 
Paarl,  Worcester,  Oudtshoorn  and  Robertson 
districts  of  the  Cape  and  the  Transvaal :  but 
there  is  no  cohesion  or  co-ordination  in  this  form 
of  enterprise,  and  the  Victorian  farmers  would 
regard  the  individual  efforts  of  their  South 
African  cousins,  separately  or  en  masse,  with 
astonishment  not  unmingled  with  contempt. 
Much  of  the  Cape's  irrigable  north-west  is  given 
over  to  the  cultivation  of  fruits,  especially  the 
vine.  Few  fruits  thrive  in  the  Australian  sense, 
but  the  grape  is  an  exception. 

South  Africa  has  built  up  a  considerable  wine 
industry.  There  are  about  32,000  acres  of 
vineyards  in  Cape  Colony,  and  they  produce 
with  an  abundance  unknown  in  any  other  part  of 
the  world,  the  average  yield  exceeding  500  gal- 
lons from  1,000  vines.  The  average  annual* 
production  is  about  6,000,000  gallons  of  red  and 
white  wines,  about  1,500,000  gallons  of  brandy  or 
other  spirit,  115,000  gallons  of  vinegar,  and 
2,000,000  Ib.  of  raisins.  The  native  wine  is  for 
the  most  part  somewhat  crude  to  the  palate,  being 

*  There  was  a  material  shrinkage  of  grape  and  wine  production 
throughout  the  Union  in  1912,  due  in  a  measure  to  the  drought. 
—A.  P. 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

sour  and  thin,  but  there  are  some  very  excellent 
wines  on  sale,  and  the  majority  only  need  to  be 
properly  fortified  and  matured  to  command 
attention.  Gradually  the  people  of  South  Africa 
are  becoming  a  wine  drinking  race,  but  the  indus- 
try can  hardly  be  said  to  flourish  yet,  for  the  viti- 
culturists  have  not  merely  the  phylloxera  to  con- 
tend with,  they  have  to  fight  a  local  prejudice 
against  their  produce,  and  hitherto  the  wine 
duties  of  Britain  have  prevented  their  acquiring 
a  strong  foothold  in  the  English  market.  Prob- 
ably Australia  has  more  to  fear  from  South 
African  competition  in  the  wine  trade  than  in 
any  other  form  of  agricultural  competitive  enter- 
prise. It  is  certain,  at  any  rate,  that  Australian 
wines  can  never  find  a  profitable  market  in  South 
Africa.  They  are  practically  unknown  there, 
and  will,  in  all  likelihood,  continue  to  remain 
unknown. 

For  the  rest,  Australia  has  to  face  the  prospect 
of  a  continuous  diminution  in  her  large  present 
export  of  cereals  and  butter  to  the  Union.  The 
farmers  of  South  Africa  are  beginning,  however 
slowly,  to  appreciate  the  disgrace  of  being  fed 
from  abroad.  (Vide  Appendix  "  D.")  The 
spirit  of  the  people  has  been  aroused.  A  de- 

114 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

mand  for  protectionist  duties  is  heard  from 
many  sides,  and  despite  all  difficulties,  wheat  cul- 
tivation and  dairying  enterprise  are  increasing. 
However,  a  point  must  eventually  be  reached 
beyond  which  such  forms  of  agricultural  produc- 
tion cannot  extend,  and  when  that  time  comes  (it 
will  be  expedited  by  an  increase  of  population) 
the  demand  for  Australian  flour  and  butter  must 
revive  and  be  enlarged. 

Just  now  South  Africa  is  living  on  gold,  dia- 
monds, ostrich  feathers,  wine  and  wool  and 
mealies.  Next  to  gold  and  diamonds,  feather 
raising  is  the  most  profitable  of  the  country's  in- 
dustries. The  ostrich  yields  between  ;£  2,000,000 
and  ;£  3,000,000  per  annum  to  the  sub-continent 
There  are  some  500,000  birds  in  South  Africa, 
and  they  yield  an  average  of  from  £$  to  ^5 
worth  of  feathers  per  caput  per  annum.  The 
people  are  buying  Australian  rams  of  the  best 
quality  in  wholesale  fashion,  in  the  hope  of  im- 
proving their  own  breeds  :  but  they  are  jealously 
determined  to  prevent  the  export  of  a  single 
ostrich  or  ostrich  egg  to  the  Commonwealth.  A 
statute  is  on  the  tapis  to  constitute  such  a  thing 
a  criminal  offence,  and  to  punish  offenders  with 
a  fine  of  ^500,  and  twelve  months'  penal  servi- 

"5 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

tude.  All  signs  point  to  the  enaction  of  this  law 
in  the  near  future,  but  alas !  for  the  vanity  of 
such  mean  spirited  effort.  The  people — like  the 
ostrich  they  wish  to  guard  and  keep  to  them- 
selves— having  sensed  a  danger,  bury  their  heads 
in  the  sand.  They  are  bound  by  an  inviolable 
treaty  with  the  Portuguese  not  to  prevent  the 
export  of  birds  to  Portuguese  territory.  Austra- 
lians, therefore,  need  only  go  to  Delagoa  Bay  to 
obtain  all  the  ostriches  they  may  require,  and  thus 
they  may  quite  legally,  although  indirectly,  de- 
feat the  Union's  mean  and  panic  stricken  pre- 
cautions. 

Stock  raising  in  South  Africa  hardly  deserves 
the  name  of  an  industry.  The  goats  run  to 
millions,  but  most  are  rubbish.  Most  of  the 
sheep  are  only  useful  for  food,  being  the  ancient 
fat-tailed  breed,  whose  wool  is  worthless.  Good 
dairy  herds  are  almost  non-existent :  and  the 
cattle,  generally  speaking,  are  of  so  small  and 
wretched  a  type  that  they  can  never  take  a  place 
in  the  meat  markets  of  the  world.  Disease  holds 
this  industry  in  the  hollow  of  its  yellow  palm, 
and  sternly  prohibits  its  expansion  and  improve- 
ment. 

Apart  from  all  political  problems,  the  travel- 
116 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

ler's  general  impression  of  South  Africa  is  one 
of  gloom  and  desolation.  The  vast  bulk  of  the 
sub-continent  is  a  barren,  pest-ridden  wilderness, 
where  only  the  black  man  can  live  or  hope  to 
thrive.  One  passes  across  thousands  of  miles  of 
monotonous  veld,  and  sees  no  cultivation,  no 
stock  worth  owning,  no  sign  of  comfortable  or 
civilised  habitation.  The  British  are  walled  and 
cooped  up  in  the  mushroom  cities  :  the  Boers  are 
scattered  sparsely  through  the  lonely  plains. 
The  British  think  only  of  winning  riches  from 
the  mines.  The  Boers,  absolutely  ambitionless, 
think  only  of  winning  a  meagre  livelihood  from 
the  sour  and  reluctant  soil :  and  both  races  alike, 
corrupted  and  enervated  by  their  long  and  un- 
interrupted dependence  on  the  blacks,  "  laze  " 
along,  do  no  work  themselves  save  overseeing 
work,  and  prosper,  or  exist,  as  they  prefer,  on 
the  slavish  toil  of  the  downtrodden  aboriginal 
inhabitants. 

I  can  conceive  no  life  more  lonely  and  intel- 
lectually hideous  than  life  on  the  veld.  There 
is  none  save  infrequent,  dull  and  brutish  com- 
panionship. Culture  is  an  unknown  quality. 
Hardships  abound.  The  blacks  are  everywhere, 
and  contact  with  them  brutalises  and  depraves 

117 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

the  whites.  The  landscape  is  either  dreadfully 
monotonous  or  appallingly  grand,  but  always 
the  eye  wanders  in  a  miserable  baffled  quest  for 
a  sign  of  trees.  The  veld  farms  are  fenced  with 
wire  stretched  on  stone  or  iron  fences — wood 
there  is  none.  Thousands  of  miles  of  iron  fences 
gird  the  railway  lines.  The  railways  are  all 
built  on  the  narrow  3  feet  6  inch  gauge,  and  the 
lines  lie  on  girders  of  steel.  They  pay  well  be- 
cause they  are  the  only  means  of  transportation 
that  the  country  boasts,  and  because  they  charge 
high  freights  and  fares.  But  the  trains  are  slow 
and  tedious  and  uncomfortable. 

Dust  storms  sweep  across  the  plains  with  every 
wind — whirling  maelstroms  of  blinding  sand  and 
powdered  soil — and  this  even  in  the  heart  of  the 
rainy  season  of  the  year.  They  call  the  herbage 
that  covers  these  plains  grass :  and  when  at  its 
greenest  it  is  rather  brown  than  green.  It  grows 
in  far  separated  clumps — bundles  of  wires  and 
weeds.  No  wonder  the  stock  that  browses  on 
such  miserable  fodder  is  small  and  wretched. 
And  what  if  gorgeous  lilies,  tubers  and  other 
blooms  intersperse  the  tussocks  and  light  the 
veld  with  a  thousand  colored  glories  now  and 
then?  They  are  beautiful  beyond  a  doubt,  but 

118 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

nearly  all  are  poisonous,  and  in  any  case  one 
cannot  live  on  flowers.  All  this  brings  one  back 
inexorably  to  the  root  fact  of  South  African  his- 
tory. South  Africa  has  been  settled  for  several 
hundreds  of  years :  it  has  been  fought  and  bled 
for  by  many  peoples :  to-day  its  total  white 
population  scarcely  exceeds  1,200,000  souls. 
Here  is  a  truth  which  tells  its  own  tale. 

There  are  classes  in  South  Africa,  but  amongst 
the  whites  at  least  there  are  no  masses.  The 
caste  system  which  has  replaced  the  older  insti- 
tution of  slavery  has  effectually  compelled  even 
the  poorest  of  the  wage  earning  whites  to  join 
forces  with  the  plutocrats  in  a  tacit  conspiracy  of 
co-operation  to  maintain  their  pride  of  race  and 
to  prevent  the  social  elevation  and  political 
emancipation  of  the  blacks.  There  are  probably 
hundreds  of  humanely  disposed  and  broad- 
minded  folk  in  the  sub-continent  who  sympathise 
deeply  with  the  unfortunate  condition  of  the  sub- 
merged yet  ambitious  and  ever-restless  negro 
hordes,  and  who,  if  they  had  their  way,  would 
remove^  all  obstacles  to  the  education  and  im- 
provement of  the  Kaffirs.  But  the  voice  of  these 
visionaries  is  seldom  raised  and  their  utterances 
are  never  heeded  by  the  powerful  majority.  The 

119 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

rulers  of  the  country  seem  to  be  fully  conscious 
of  the  fact  that  they  are  dealing  tyrannously  and 
cruelly  with  the  people  whose  territory  and  pos- 
sessions they  have  usurped :  but  they  excuse 
themselves  by  appealing  to  the  primal  law  of 
self-preservation.  They  must  continue,  they 
plead,  in  the  way  they  have  begun  as  the  sole 
alternative  to  being  racially  overwhelmed  and 
politically  extinguished.  And  one  cannot  deny 
the  force  of  their  contention. 

The  natives  are  so  physically  vigorous  and 
mentally  virile,  their  numbers  are  so  vast,  their 
rate  of  natural  increase  is  so  great  and  rapid,  and 
their  desire  to  exceed  the  bounds  of  the  white 
man's  caste  prejudice  is  so  keen  that  it  is  staringly 
obvious  that  their  aspirations  must  be  restricted 
and  repressed  as  a  condition  precedent  to  the 
preservation  of  white  supremacy.  Undoubtedly 
the  time  will  come  when  they  will  try  conclusions 
with  their  present  masters  and  put  to  some  final 
test  the  white  man's  ancient  claim  to  be  their 
overlord  and  governor.  Possibly  not  for  two  or 
three  generations  will  that  day  arrive,  but  sooner 
or  later  it  will  come,  and  the  fear  of  it  is  a  dark 
shadow  that  shrouds  every  white  South  African's 
horizon  and  adds  a  meed  of  cruelty  to  every 

1 20 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

stroke  he  lays  upon  his  negro  servant's  shoulders. 
The  original  sin  of  slavery  has  banded  the  whites 
together  in  a  community  of  ethical  criminality. 
The  existing  generation  blames  its  fathers  for 
the  sin,  blames  them  bitterly,  but  clings  tena- 
ciously to  slavery's  modern  prototype — cheap 
labor  ruled  by  caste.  The  whites  at  one  and  the 
same  time  hate,  fear,  despise  and  use  the  blacks. 
They  cannot  do  without  them.  South  African 
civilisation  is  a  marble  palace  built  upon  a  quag- 
mire of  black,  heaving  human  bodies.  Shake 
or  disturb  the  essential  foundation  of  cheap 
colored  labor,  and  it  would  crumble  on  instant. 

The  blacks  are  an  ever-shifting  problem. 
They  are  docile  to-day,  but  their  present  docility 
is  turbulence  contrasted  with  their  pristine 
slavishness,  and  as  education  spreads  among 
them,  their  diminishing  submissiveness  is  bound 
to  develop  into  rebellious  independence.  By 
far  the  most  striking  feature  of  social  life  in 
South  Africa  at  this  moment  is  the  mailed  front 
of  insolent  and  intolerant  aristocracy  which  the 
whites  turn  everywhere  on  the  blacks,  and  on 
black  efforts  at  encroachment.  In  most  South 
African  towns  a  curfew  bell  tolls  at  a  certain  hour 
each  night.  It  is  the  signal  for  all  natives  to  re- 

121 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

tire  from  the  white  man's  precincts  and  hie  them 
home  to  their  miserable  huts  and  habitations  in 
the  neighboring  black  "  location."  Christianised 
negroes  have  churches  of  their  own,  and  did  any 
black  venture  to  invade  the  portals  of  the  white 
man's  house  of  worship  he  would  not  merely  be 
driven  forth ;  his  impertinence  would  be  rewarded 
with  the  whip.  Millionaires  and  mechanics  view 
the  negro  through  cognate  sets  of  spectacles.  The 
millionaire  wants  plenty  of  unskilled  cheap  labor. 
The  mechanic  wants  a  monopoly  of  the  skilled 
labor  market  and,  being  lazy,  he  also  wants  cheap 
black  industrial  valets  to  perform  the  rougher 
portions  of  his  work.  The  millionaire  and  the 
mechanic,  therefore,  have  combined  to  secure 
the  satisfaction  of  their  kindred  needs.  The 
blacks  are  given  all  the  unskilled  labor  in  the 
land  to  do,  and  because  they  do  it  at  the  call  of 
caste,  that  labor  is  proscribed  from  white  perform- 
ance. Thus  the  class  of  "  poor  whites  "  origin- 
ated. Every  town  and  city  has  its  unlisted  legion 
of  such  men.  They  are  unskilled  laborers. 
They  would  be  glad  to  do  unskilled  work  in  any 
other  land :  but  in  South  Africa  they  would  not 
if  they  dared,  and  dare  not  if  they  would,  for  the 
punishment  of  their  offence  would  be  eternal 

122 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

ostracism  from  their  kind.  "  Kaffir's  work  "  is 
invested  with  such  a  horror  in  the  public  mind 
that  the  very  thought  of  any  white  engaging  in  it 
is  a  degradation.  The  "  poor  whites "  must 
live,  however.  They  live  too  often  by  felonious 
devices,  and  are  mostly  rascals. 

There  are  no  servant  girls  in  South  Africa. 
Domestic  service  is  "  Kaffir's  work " :  conse- 
quently no  white  woman  can  perform  it.  De- 
prived of  this  great  avenue  of  female  employ- 
ment, the  white  daughters  of  the  poor  turn  to 
the  tea  houses  and  restaurants,  which  are  too  few 
for  their  needs.  Factories  there  are  almost 
none.  The  half-caste  population  is,  compara- 
tively speaking,  enormous,  especially  in  the 
southern  towns,  and  the  numbers  of  "  nearly 
whites  "  may  not  be  counted.  Innumerable  Boer 
families  are  of  tainted  blood.  Wherever  found, 
the  product  of  miscegenation  is  usually  an  out- 
cast from  white  society. 


123 


CHAPTER  X 

PROVINCIAL    CENTRES 

IETERMARITZBURG,  the  old  capital 
of  Natal,  is  an  exceedingly  pretty  little 
city,  situated  in  a  hollow  at  the  foot  of  the 
towering  Drakensburg  Mountains,  some  70  miles 
from  the  coast.  Coming  from  the  bleak  and 
lonely  Transvaal  veld  into  the  rich  green  garden 
of  Natal  is  a  blessed  relief  to  the  traveller :  nor 
is  it  less  delightful  to  exchange  the  Babylon-like 
tumult  of  Johannesburg  for  the  languorous  re- 
pose of  the  only  truly  British  town  in  South 
Africa.  In  Maritzburg  (as  the  city  is  locally 
called)  there  is  a  white  population  of  about 
15,000,  and  nearly  all  the  citizens  are  of  British 
blood.  Truly  enough  the  natives  and  coolies 

124 


>.^3»fc*- j?~- 


DRAKENSBURG  MOUNTAINS 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

outnumber  the  whites,  and  are  everywhere  in 
evidence  :  but  that  is  a  feature  universal  in  South 
Africa.  The  English  tongue  is  omnipresently 
in  use  and  English  manners  and  customs  are 
notably  predominant.  But  it  is  not  a  progressive 
city.  It  is  beautiful  beyond  words,  with  its  well 
paved  roads,  its  splendid  public  buildings,  its 
fine  parks  and  gardens,  and  its  wonderfully 
planted  streets,  shaded  everywhere  with  avenues 
of  lovely  tropic  trees :  but  it  is  a  decadent  town 
and  its  pristine  greatness  has  departed.  As  a 
business  centre  it  is  a  "  has  been."  Commerce 
has  evaded  its  charming  precincts,  and,  lacking 
the  old  spur  of  political  encouragement,  as  hence- 
forth it  must,  it  seems  doomed  to  oblivion  and 
decay. 

The  people  are  somnolent  and  easy  going. 
The  spirit  of  South  Africa,  which  says  eternally 
"  Wacht-een-beetje,"  has  settled  heavily  upon 
the  citizens.  "  We  have  always  to-morrow,"  the 
national  proverb  of  the  Boers,  has  infected  every- 
body in  Maritzburg  with  a  dull  sense  of  listless 
apathy.  The  days  of  bustle  and  money-making 
have  gone  by.  The  present  day  is  given  up  to 
an  easy-going,  lotus-eating  life,  and  the  gentle 
pleasures  of  hope  indulged.  "  Some  day,"  say 

125 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

the  Maritzburghers,  "  the  glories  of  our  city  will 
revive."  The  South  Africans  are  perpetually 
full  of  hope  :  it  is  the  energy  required  to  realise 
their  dim  yet  sanguine  dreaming  that  they  lack. 
Of  course  the  town  is  enormously  burdened  with 
debt.  Equally,  of  course,  its  appointments  are 
luxurious.  Fine  hotels  abound.  The  city  is 
lighted  throughout  with  electricity.  Electric 
trams  (which  do  not  pay,  because  the  people 
would  rather  disburse  6d.  to  ride  in  a  rickshaw 
and  be  deposited  at  their  very  doors  than  id.  to 
ride  in  a  tram  and  have  to  walk  perhaps  50  yards) 
pervade  all  the  main  streets  :  and  the  city  rejoices 
also  in  excellent  water  and  sewerage  systems, 
municipal  enterprises  every  one.  But  the  people 
groan  under  heavy  rates  and  taxes  whenever  they 
wake  up — and  yet,  to  do  them  justice,  they  nearly 
always  sleep. 

My  journey  to  Bloemfontein  was  interesting 
in  that  it  dissipated  an  illusion.  I  was  told  that 
I  should  pass  on  the  way  through  the  granary 
of  Africa.  The  country  was  rich  and  seemingly 
fertile  enough  while  we  remained  in  Natal,  but 
no  sooner  had  we  surmounted  the  flying  buttresses 
of  the  Drakensburg  and  entered  the  high  veld  of 
the  O.R.C.,  than  we  resumed  acquaintance  with 

126 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

vast  stretches  of  bare  and  gloomy  plains,  sour- 
soiled,  treeless  and  almost  grassless  steppes, 
without  beginning  and  without  end.  Wheat 
fields  were  pointed  out  to  us  with  pride  at  Beth- 
lehem and  other  places  as  being  typical  of  South 
Africa's  agricultural  development  and  marvellous 
"  potentialities  " — blessed  word  !  Those  wheat 
fields  were  enough  to  reduce  any  spectator  pos- 
sessed of  kindly  sensibilities  to  tears.  Never 
have  I  seen  such  wretched  looking  areas,  such 
miserable  produce  of  tilled  and  tended  earth.  I 
could  hardly  believe  my  eyes,  and  to  listen  to 
the  self-complacent  language  of  our  guides  was 
to  be  divided  between  mirth  and  pity. 

At  Bloemfontein,  the  old  capital  of  the  late 
Orange  River  Free  State  Republic,  I  saw  a 
stagnant,  almost  dying  town,  but  pretentious 
above  comparison.  Built  in  a  hollow  and  sur- 
rounded with  kopjes,  it  has  few  claims  to  be 
styled  beautiful,  for  on  that  hard  and  unfriendly 
land  trees  do  not  flourish,  and  few  of  all  the 
trees  which  the  people  have  planted  and  culti- 
vated with  an  infinity  of  care,  looked  healthy  or 
like  to  live.  Dead  trees  I  counted  by  the  score. 
The  white  population  numbers  about  10,000,  the 
blacks  about  15,000:  and  there  are  some  3,000 

127 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

British  troops  cantoned  near  the  town.  The 
citizens  live  on  the  farmers  :  it  is  a  purely  agri- 
cultural neighbourhood,  and  farming  is  the  only 
industry:  but  so  poor  are  the  crops  and  yields 
that  the  citizens  do  not  thrive  in  the  Australian 
sense,  and  my  marvel  was  that  they  exist  at  all. 
Nevertheless,  the  town  has  an  astounding  cor- 
porate energy.  It  has  lighted  the  city  with  elec- 
tricity :  it  has  built  great  flood  works :  it  owns 
and  runs  fine  abattoirs :  it  has  constructed  and 
owns  the  largest  swimming  baths  in  Africa :  it 
has  a  splendid  water  system,  bringing  the  water 
from  1 8  miles  away:  it  owns  a  large  sewerage 
farm :  and  it  has  a  big  municipal  laundry,  where 
the  clothes  of  the  citizens  are  laundered  at  prices 
that  would  break  the  heart  of  a  British  housewife. 
Naturally  the  town  is  heavily  in  debt,  and  the 
citizens  have  to  pay  through  the  nose  for  all  their 
conveniences.  Why  the  receivers  are  not  in  pos- 
session is  an  abiding  mystery.  Most  of  the 
townspeople  are  British,  but  the  tone  of  the  city 
is  strictly  Dutch.  The  Taal  is  spoken  indiffer- 
ently with  English  by  all  except  the  flag-waving 
section  of  the  ultra-English  civil  servant  class. 
Here  I  met  with  many  of  the  more  cultured  type 
of  Boers,  and  was  most  hospitably  entertained 

128 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

by  all :  but  they  none  denied  a  strong  racial 
sentiment,  and  several  were  frank  enough  to 
admit  in  conversation  their  belief  in  a  Dutch 
South  Africa,  and  their  firm  resolve  to  help 
strenuously  in  the  work  of  complete  Dutchifica- 
tion.  Every  Englishman  I  met  confessed  an 
irreconcilable  hatred  of  the  Boers  en  masse. 
Individually  the  two  races  rub  along  without 
friction  :  but  their  amity  is  on  the  surface. 

Leaving  Bloemfontein,  I  traversed  the  Con- 
quered Territory,  a  strip  of  valuable  land  wrested 
from  the  Basutos  and  never  returned,  and 
entered  the  south-eastern  section  of  the  Cape. 
In  the  Conquered  Territory  I  saw  a  good  deal 
more  of  cultivation  than  in  any  part  of  the  sub- 
continent I  visited.  Here  the  soil  is  not  sour, 
and  virgin  land  will  yield  fairly  well  without  a 
long  course  of  preliminary  treatment.  But  it  was 
not  my  good  fortune  to  see  any  considerable  area 
fit  to  compare  with  even  the  second  rate  agricul- 
tural territory  of  the  Commonwealth.  I  was  fed 
and  feasted  everywhere  on  splendid  sights, 
sombre,  grand  and  imposing  spectacles  and 
magnificent  scenery :  but  always  the  query — 
''When  shall  I  see  the  rich  farm  lands  of 
Africa  ?  "  was  met  with  a  Spanish  "  Manana." 

129 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

Promises  were  made  by  the  drove.  Not  one  was 
ever  fulfilled.  The  Conquered  Territory  was 
another  disappointment.  It  showed  a  deal  of 
passable  land,  a  fairish  amount  of  desultory  cul- 
tivation, an  unmeasured  quantity  of  crops,  poor, 
but  here  called  rich — and  nothing  more.  That 
is  to  say,  nothing  more  except  scenery — scenery 
wild  and  majestic  enough  to  beggar  the  resources 
of  a  Byron,  yet  uncultivable.  One  grows 
weary  of  mountains,  however  awe  inspiring  and 
stupendous,  that  cannot  bear  trees,  and  are  as 
barren  as  the  sun  scorched  rocks  of  Araby. 
They  may  breed  poetry,  but  they  will  not  breed 
stock,  and  of  all  the  treeless  wastes  here  called 
the  veld  we  saw  none  (in  the  best  season  of  the 
year)  but  infrequent  little  patches  that  could  be 
held  capable  of  tempting  an  Australian  farmer's 
eyes. 

East  London,  long  the  seaport  of  the  Orange 
River  Colony,  and  of  Kimberley  as  well,  is 
another  example  of  South  African  municipal  ex- 
travagance. There  is  a  riot  of  splendid  public 
buildings  and  expensive  works.  Electric  light, 
electric  trams  and  a  host  of  other  municipal  enter- 
prises are  in  operation.  The  place  is  fearfully 
in  debt,  and  its  14,000  white  residents  labor  under 

130 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

a  heavy  strain  of  local  taxation  gallantly  if 
groanfully.  One  wonders  how  they  contrive  to 
make  ends  meet.  The  town  is  perched  on  a  little 
plateau,  200  feet  high,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Buffalo  River.  It  has  harbour  works  which  cost 
over  ;£ 2, 000,000.  The  city  is  kept  busy  because 
it  is  a  railway  terminus  and  a  port,  and  because 
it  has  a  fishing  industry.  But  it  is  not  really 
prosperous,  as  its  lines  of  deserted  buildings  and 
semi-occupied  offices  too  clearly  prove.  It  is 
one  more  of  those  places — so  frequently  found 
in  this  country — which  trades  on  the  glories  of 
the  past. 

Port  Elizabeth  styles  itself  the  Liverpool  of 
South  Africa.  It  is  the  briskest  and  most  busi- 
ness like  city  in  the  Union  and  the  people  are 
exceptionally  enterprising  and  energetic.  It  is 
the  centre  of  the  South  African  ostrich  trade. 
Feather  markets  are  held  three  times  a  week  and 
a  feather  emporium  is  to  be  found  in  every  street. 
Enough  feathers  repose  in  the  stores  and 
shops  to  stock  the  world.  In  the  surrounding 
district  sheep  farming  is  largely  carried  on  and 
the  breeders  are  beginning  to  evolve  a  good 
stock  by  crossing  with  sheep  imported  from 
Australia.  Port  Elizabeth  has  a  poor  harbour 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

(it  is  really  an  open  roadstead)  and  it  is  remote 
from  the  main  districts  of  production,  but  it  is 
controlled  by  men  of  courage  and  ideas.  Its 
importance  grows  in  spite  of  natural  handicaps, 
and  it  seems  likely  to  be  and  remain  the  chief 
port  of  export  of  the  Union  since  it  has  com- 
pletely captured  the  feather  trade  and  is  building 
up  a  large  trade  in  wool.  Ostrich  farming  is 
chiefly  carried  on  round  Oudtshoorn  and  Lady- 
smith  and  on  the  Ghama  Karro,  but  the  feathers 
nearly  all  go  to  Port  Elizabeth  for  sale,  even 
those  grown  in  Rhodesia  and  the  western  por- 
tions of  the  Cape  Province.  I  liked  this  part  of 
the  country  well.  The  white  people  know  what 
they  want  and  they  are  not  afraid  of  work. 
Hardships  do  not  daunt  them.  They  lean  less 
upon  the  Kaffir  here  than  elsewhere,  and  "  wait 
a  bit "  is  not  their  motto.  All  is  life,  bustle  and 
activity. 

Durban,  the  chief  port  of  Natal,  is  a  beautiful 
city — the  pleasure  resort  of  the  Union.  It  is  the 
Brighton  of  South  Africa.  The  women  of  the 
Transvaal  and  of  Rhodesia  and  the  O.R.C. 
troop  to  Durban  for  two  or  three  months 
every  year  to  recuperate  from  the  trying  climate 
of  the  veld.  It  is  a  city  of  big  hotels  and  places 

132 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

of  amusement.  The  population  is  semi-amphibi- 
ous and  mixed  bathing  is  the  perennial  pastime. 

Pretoria  is  a  fair  type  of  the  Dutch  city.  Like 
all  the  Dutch  towns  it  is  built  in  a  hollow  and 
surrounded  with  a  low  rampart  of  hills.  The 
Boers  always  chose  such  spots  for  the  dual  pur- 
pose of  obtaining  shelter  from  the  fierce  winds 
that  sweep  across  the  veld  and  to  minimise  the 
difficulties  of  armed  defence  against  the  natives 
and  other  possible  invaders. 

The  streets  run  in  parallels.  Every  kopje  is 
dotted  with  white  and  orange  color  houses  built 
in  the  quaint  Dutch  style.  The  public  buildings 
are  large  and  imposing.  The  Volsraad  Housse, 
where  the  public  business  of  the  Transvaal  Re- 
public used  to  be  conducted,  is  particularly  in- 
teresting. It  is  preserved  exactly  as  when  Paul 
Kruger  occupied  it  as  President  of  the  Republic. 
The  memory  of  that  crude  and  rugged  figure 
dominates  the  city.  His  private  dwelling  house 
stands  intact  as  when  he  left  it,  save  that  his 
study  has  been  converted  into  a  museum  hung 
with  funeral  wreaths  sent  by  the  Sovereigns  of 
Europe  on  his  death,  and  a  great  weird  painting 
by  a  Dutch  artist  luridly  pictures  his  apotheosis 
in  a  curious  Boer  Valhalla.  And  before  the  door 

133 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

lie  the  marble  lions  presented  to  the  late  ex- 
President  by  Cecil  Rhodes,  which  gift  caused 
Kruger  so  much  wrath  and  suspicion  and  mis- 
giving. In  the  centre  of  the  town  is  an  immense 
square,  which  is  filled  every  market  day  with  the 
produce-laden  waggons  of  the  farmers.  Every 
Dutch  town  has  just  such  a  market  square,  even 
Johannesburg  and  Capetown,  and  it  is  one  of  the 
sights  of  South  Africa  to  see  these  spaces  and 
their  teeming  traffic  on  market  mornings.  They 
resemble  nothing  so  much  as  old  time  Irish  fairs. 
Pretoria  is  being  rapidly  changed  in  character 
now  by  the  great  Administrative  offices  of  the 
Union  Government  that  are  being  erected  on  the 
slopes  above  the  town,  at  a  cost  of  ;£  2,000,000. 
There  are  nothing  like  them  in  the  Southern 
Hemisphere.  The  town  has  many  lovely  resi- 
dences and  not  the  least  attractive  is  that  which 
Lord  Roberts  occupied  after  his  defeat  of  Cronje. 
It  was  my  privilege  to  spend  an  evening  in  this 
pretty  mansion  and  to  dine  at  the  table  on  which 
the  famous  Peace  Treaty  of  Vereeniging  was 
signed  by  General  Botha  and  Lord  Kitchener. 
Pretoria  is  the  administrative  capital  of  the 
Union,  and  it  is  likely  to  be  also  the  legislative 
capital  before  many  years  elapse.  Circum- 

134 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

stances  are  conspiring  towards  that  end,  and  con- 
siderations of  economy  will  sooner  or  later  force 
it  into  fact.  The  city  is  lighted  with  electricity 
and  it  has  a  good  service  of  electric  tramways. 

Kimberley  is  a  big  sprawling  town,  irregularly 
arranged  and  built  without  design  around  the 
diamond  mines.  Sordid  little  cottages  rub 
shoulders  with  palatial  dwellings.  There  are 
many  gardens,  but  few  fine  public  buildings.  It 
is  a  city  of  dreadful  dust.  Almost  every  day 
there  is  a  dust  storm.  Dust  is  called  "  Kimber- 
ley rain."  When  the  storm  threatens  the  in- 
habitants retire  indoors  and  close  every  crack 
and  crevice  to  exclude  the  penetrating  curse. 
Almost  as  well  one  might  live  in  the  Sahara. 
The  mines  are  the  only  cause  and  raison  d'etre 
of  this  dry  and  dust  smitten  city.  They,  of 
course,  have  their  peculiar  and  abiding  interest. 
Every  year  they  produce  shining  pebbles  to  the 
value  of  many  millions  sterling.  Kimberley 
lives  on  the  vanity  of  women.  I  spent  some  days 
in  and  about  the  mines  and  found  the  processes 
of  absorbing  interest.  Most  of  the  larger  mines 
are  "  deep  workers  "  nowadays.  The  "  blue 
stone  "  is  dug  out  of  the  bowels  of  the  earth, 
hoisted  by  magnificent  machinery,  and  then  car- 
US 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

ried  in  trolleys  to  the  reserves  where  the  mineral 
is  spread  out  over  the  face  of  the  land  and  ex- 
posed for  a  year  or  two  to  the  disintegrating 
action  of  the  atmosphere  before  it  is  crushed  and 
treated.  All  around  the  mines  stretch  wide 
areas  of  "  blue  "  covered  ground,  which  are  sur- 
rounded with  high  fences  topped  with  rows  cf 
barbed  wire  and  guarded  night  and  day  by  mine 
police.  In  that  decaying  mould  repose  treasures 
immeasurable.  Each  trolly  load  of  dirt  has  an 
average  value  of  i5/-,  but  each  piece  of  rock  the 
size  of  a  fist  may  be  worth  an  emperor's  ransom. 
The  visitor,  therefore,  is  not  permitted  to  carry 
away  a  specimen  of  the  "  blue,"  for  it  might  con- 
tain a  Koh-i-Noor.  Every  pebble  is  watched 
most  jealously.  There  are  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  tons  at  grass,  but  one  may  only  look  at 
them.  Yet  in  spite  of  all  this  care,  the  mines 
are  robbed  steadily  and  greatly.  The  negro  has 
the  eye  of  a  hawk  for  precious  stones,  and  he 
cannot  be  kept  always  under  observation.  As 
he  loads  or  unloads  his  trolly  he  often  sees  a 
shining  speck,  and  then — well — illicit  diamond 
buying  is  a  custom  of  the  country.  It  is  called 
I.D.B.  for  short,  because  it  is  so  often  in  men's 
mouths.  Hundreds  of  whites  and  blacks  thrive 

136 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

on  it.  The  law  sometimes  grasps  a  victim,  but 
for  each  robber  caught  and  punished,  a  score  go 
undetected.  The  processes  of  crushing  the 
"  weathered  blue  "  and  washing  the  precious  dirt 
are  marvellously  vast,  but  wonderfully  simple. 
The  rock  is  first  roughly  stamped  and  broken  to 
a  certain  size,  then  passed  automatically  through 
a  long  series  of  batteries  and  crushers,  each  one 
of  which  reduces  it  to  a  specific  smaller  size. 
Keen  eyed  watchers  stand  at  each  break  in  the 
chain  of  operations  in  search  of  shining  specks. 
They  sometimes  find  them.  These  are  the 
biggest  diamonds.  The  smaller  stones  go  with 
the  finer  dust  and  debris  to  the  grease  covered 
tables,  and  are  caught  in  the  grease  over  which 
the  valueless  sand  passes  smoothly.  The  dis- 
covery that  grease  has  a  strong  power  of  attrac- 
tion for  diamonds  was  made  by  an  engineer  in 
the  employ  of  the  De  Beers  Company.  He  was 
made  a  present  of  ,£5,000  for  his  acuteness  and 
promoted  to  high  rank  in  the  works.  He  was 
slain  during  the  late  war.  The  discovery  has 
saved  the  mines  half  a  million  already  in  work- 
ing expenses.  The  mould  which  covers  the 
diamond  is  filled  with  garnets.  Every  mullock 
heap  on  the  mines  glistens  as  with  the  fire  of 

137 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

manifold  rubies.  Visitors  are  given  as  many 
garnets  as  they  please  to  take.  They  are  pretty 
baubles,  but  have  little  market  worth.  The  native 
miners  of  Kimberley  are  nearly  all  kept  in  vast 
compounds.  Picture  a  square  plot  of  ground  5 
acres  in  extent  surrounded  by  roofed  sheds  open 
to  the  square,  but  stoutly  walled  externally.  In 
the  sheds  are  even  rows  of  bunks  arranged  in 
tiers  from  floor  to  roof.  Thousands  of  bunks 
there  are,  and  to  each  bunk  a  native.  They  live 
(when  not  asleep  or  at  work)  in  the  square,  where 
they  do  their  cooking  at  open  fires  in  tribal  groups 
and  sub-groups.  Their  principal  amusement  is 
to  play  on  the  queer  gambling  machine  (described 
by  Herodotus)  which  was  popular  among  the 
Ethiopians  of  ancient  Egypt.  It  consists  of  a 
board  about  six  feet  long,  set  out  in  transverse 
little  slatted  squares.  The  gambling  is  done  with 
small  pebbles  and  stones  that  fly  about  the  board 
and  settle  in  the  squares,  each  of  which  has  its 
fixed  value.  The  negroes  love  the  pastime,  and 
they  gamble  night  and  day.  Such  is  the  com- 
pound and  compound  life.  Virtually  it  is 
slavery,  for  the  mine  natives  are  not  free  to  quit 
their  compounds  during  their  employment,  and 
the  compounds  are  really  gaols.  But  the  natives 

138 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

do  not  seem  to  mind.  They  are  fed  fairly  well 
and  they  all  appear  happy  and  contented.  They 
have  banks  wherein  to  store  their  wages,  and 
many  of  them  return  to  their  kraals  comparatively 
rich  men.  A  director  of  the  De  Beers  showed 
me  one  native  who  is  a  philosopher  and  a  humor- 
ist. "  This  man,"  said  he,  "  is  now  doing  his 
second  term.  He  returned  to  us  of  his  own  will. 
Question  him !" 

I  glanced  at  the  burly  Kaffir,  who  at  once  bared 
his  splendid  teeth  in  a  beaming  smile.  '  Why 
did  you  come  back  ?"  I  asked.  "Oh,"  replied  the 
negro,  "  me  go  to  kraal  first  time  from  mine  with 
plenty  money  and  buy  wife.  She  got  temper 
like  devil — fight  me  all  day  long.  Much  better 
come  long  back  here  and  work  to  get  more 
money !  " 

"  Oh  !  I  see.  But  what  will  you  do  when  you 
have  more  money  ?  " 

The  native  grinned  atrociously.  "  When  get 
more  money  me  go  back  kraal  and  buy  another 
wife.  Then  me  happy.  One  wife  no  good. 
Two  wives  good.  They  fight  each  other  and 
leave  me  alone." 

In  the  course  of  my  travels  I  visited  many 
small  Boer  towns  and  "  dorps  " ;  but  they  are 

139 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

little  worth  describing.  Each  one  is  a  replica 
of  the  next.  There  is  neither  life  nor  movement 
in  them.  They  are  collections  of  squalid 
humpies,  grouped  in  straggling  form  about  an 
inn.  The  inhabitants  do  no  work  except  to  force 
the  natives  to  work  for  them.  Some  tipple 
stolidly  and  steadily — the  liquor  is  an  infamous 
doctored  spirit  to  drink  which  is  to  "  dop  " — i.e., 
to  be  doped;  the  rest  sip  coffee,  live  on  mealies 
and  milk,  and  smoke  and  laugh  and  dream. 
Than  the  dwellers  in  these  back  veld  villages 
there  is  not  a  more  torpid,  ignorant  and  back- 
ward people  on  the  planet.  If  addressed,  they 
invariably  answer,  "  Wacht-een-beetje."  Their 
minds  are  so  dull  and  lethargic  that  it  requires  a 
considerable  effort  to  formulate  a  thought. 
Everything  is  a  trouble  to  them.  They  are 
perambulating  human  vegetables. 

Cape  Town  is  by  far  the  most  civilised  city  in 
South  Africa,  and  it  takes  high  rank  among  the 
"  beauty  "  places  of  the  world.  Excluding  the 
suburbs,  the  population  numbers  about  80,000, 
of  whom  a  little  more  than  50  per  cent,  are  whites 
of  European  extraction.  The  remainder  are 
negroes,  Malays,  and  half-castes.  In  the  suburbs 
there  is  a  population  of  100,000.  The  evil  of 

140 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

miscegenation  (which  is  practised  more  or  less 
throughout  the  Union)  finds  its  sharpest  accentu- 
ation in  Cape  Town.  The  half-castes  and  their 
piebald  product,  the  "  Cape-boys,"  teem  in  and 
around  the  city  and  overflow  the  surrounding 
districts.  As  elsewhere  in  South  Africa,  the 
Kaffirs  monopolise  the  rough  work,  but  the  Cape 
boys  have  captured  the  sphere  of  skilled  labor 
and  bar  the  avenues  of  artisan  employment  to 
the  whites.  They  are  capable  industrialists,  but 
lazy  and  insolent,  and  their  ever-increasing  num- 
bers and  growing  political  power  constitute  a 
bitter  problem  and  something  of  a  special  menace 
to  the  future  of  the  country.  In  their  veins  flows 
the  blood  of  fifty  races.  They  are  mongrels  of 
the  mongrels.  The  whites  use  them  and  despise 
them.  They  serve  and  hate  the  whites.  Although 
fairly  well  educated,  they  are  for  the  most  part 
morally  depraved.  They  have  all  the  faults  of 
pampered  menials,  all  the  vices  of  pariahs  and 
social  outcasts.  Their  condition  is  infinitely  sad. 
Their  outlook  is  dark.  They  cumber  and  blot 
the  earth.  They  are  the  living  symbols  of  de- 
pravity and  sin.  Their  existence  is  a  tragedy, 
their  lives  are  a  curse.  They  contemn  and  will 
not  associate  with  the  blacks.  The  whites  will 

141 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

not  associate  with  them.  Ostracising  and  ostra- 
cised by  the  pure  blooded  races,  they  cling  to- 
gether and  breed  solidarity  by  brooding  on  their 
fate  and  "  wrongs."  The  thoughtful  whites  see 
in  them  potential  agents  of  revolution  and  dis- 
aster. Such  fears  appear  to  me  well  based. 
The  wind  has  been  sown,  the  whirlwind  has  still 
to  be  reaped.  The  factors  of  a  destructive  whirl- 
wind exist  and  grow  and  continually  gather 
force.  In  a  war  between  the  white  and  black 
races,  the  Cape  Boys  would  win  their  chance. 
Experience  indicates  that  they  make  fine  soldiers. 
Probably,  if  war  were  to  break  out  they  would 
throw  in  their  lot  with  the  blacks,  cunningly  hid- 
ing an  opportunity  to  massacre  their  white  mas- 
ters. Nations  as  well  as  individuals  must  pay 
for  their  sins. 

The  great  charm  and  fascination  of  Cape 
Town  consist  in  the  splendid  mountain  that  rises 
in  a  steep  walled  precipice  behind  the  city,  and 
for  a  space  of  two  miles  draws  a  horizontal  line 
3,600  feet  in  height  against  the  blue  dome  of 
the  sky.  This  magnificent  tower  slopes  abruptly 
on  both  sides  to  the  sea.  The  upper  parapets 
are  covered  with  dark  green  vegetation  and 
scarred  with  multitudinous  ravines  that  drip 

142 


eternally  with  scores  of  tiny,  fairy-like  cascades. 
On  either  side  of  the  Table  are  peaks  of  pyra- 
midal shape  which  enclose  the  horse-shoe  valley 
on  which  the  town  is  perched.  The  level  sum- 
mit of  the  giant  Table  is  nearly  always  veiled 
with  dense  white  masses  of  vapor,  that  drift  con- 
stantly across  the  verge  and  pour  like  vast 
avalanching  waves  into  the  sheer  void  beneath. 
The  effect  produced  is  of  a  colossal  cataract  of 
storm-driven  water  tumbling  into  space  and  dis- 
solving into  gases  by  reason  of  their  mighty  fall. 
The  clouds  are  never  still.  They  assume  the 
most  grotesque  and  fantastic  shapes  of  stark  and 
awe  inspiring  majesty. 

Cecil  Rhodes  was  never  tired  of  gazing  at  the 
mountain  and  its  marvellous  covering.  On  the 
stoep  of  his  house,  "  De  Groote  Schuur,"  at 
Rondebosch  (5  miles  from  the  city),  he  used  to 
spend  all  his  leisure  hours  building  dream  castles 
to  match  the  castellated  mystery  of  the  great 
Table  top.  That  house  belongs  to  the  nation 
now.  It  is  one  of  Rhodes's  finest  gifts  to  the 
nation  that  he  helped  so  much  to  build.  He  be- 
queathed it,  together  with  the  splendid  garden 
that  surrounds  it,  to  the  people,  to  be  used  as 
the  official  residence  of  the  Prime  Minister  of  S. 

143 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

Africa,  and  he  provided  for  the  upkeep  with  a 
permanent  endowment  of  ,£1,000  a  year.  De 
Groote  Schuur  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and 
interesting  houses  in  the  world.  A  splendid 
specimen  of  the  old  Dutch  school  of  architecture, 
it  has  a  history  of  its  own.  Van  Riebeck  dwelt 
in  it,  and  other  famous  statesmen,  governors,  and 
merchants  before  Rhodes.  It  has  been  twice 
partially  destroyed  by  fire,  and  each  rebuilding 
has  added  to  its  usefulness  and  beauty.  Lofty, 
pillared,  ground-balconies,  stone  paved  and  wide, 
and  graced  with  a  score  of  ancient  bronze-bound 
treasure  chests,  surround  it.  The  rooms  are 
small  but  superbly  plenished  with  carven 
wooden  linings,  and  its  deep  mullioned  windows 
look  out  upon  a  scene  of  mingled  loveliness  and 
grandeur  that  has  no  parallel  in  the  five  Con- 
tinents that  compose  and  sprawl  across  the  globe. 
General  Botha  occupies  the  house  at  present. 
He  maintains  it  as  Rhodes  left  it;  and  the  bed 
and  living  rooms  of  the  great  South  African  are 
preserved  sacro-sanct,  as  though  Rhodes  were 
expected  any  moment  to  return  and  inhabit  them 
again. 

Table  Mountain  is  circled  with  a  woof  of  roads 
that  lure  the  traveller  into  countless  places  of 

144 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

enchantment.  This  commands  far  stretching 
scapes  of  mead  and  sea  and  sky.  There  is  a 
causeway  that  hangs  a  thousand  feet  on  high, 
rocking  dizzily,  'twixt  surf  and  cloud.  Yonder  is 
a  path  that  dips  into  dark,  dim  aromatic  valleys, 
where  the  sunlight  is  excluded  by  the  dense  olive 
foliage  of  forest  giants,  whose  tall  straight  boles 
stalk  in  multitudinous  and  interminable  proces- 
sion across  a  wide  brown  carpet  of  needles  into 
the  very  home  of  silence  and  of  shade.  Here 
again  the  road  winds  lazily  among  a  charming 
welter  of  suburban  dwellings  that  nestle  bowered 
with  vines  and  flowers  in  the  midst  of  towering 
oaks  and  eucalyptus.  Then  come  lanes  thickly 
hedged  with  hawthorn,  privet  and  sweet  briar, 
and  rustic  bridges  that  straddle  gurgling  fern- 
grown  brooks.  Suddenly  there  will  flash  out  an 
old  world  village  avenued  with  oaks  and  elm 
trees,  its  gabled  houses  built  in  the  fashion  of 
our  childish  dreams,  the  belfried  church,  all  green 
with  moss  and  roofed  with  thatch.  But  hardly  is 
one's  wonder  still,  when  lo  !  the  traveller  is  gazing 
into  a  forest  of  the  Swartz-Wald,  where  the  sable 
faces  of  a  myriad  pines  outstare  the  gaunt  and 
naked  grimness  of  steep,  crag-piled  towers  of 
shimmering  black  rock,  and  the  wind  sweeps 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

languidly  across  the  tree  tops  and  among  the 
granite  pinnacles  with  a  soughing  lamentation 
that  strikes  chill  upon  the  heart.  No  place  on 
earth  resembles  Cape  Town,  howsoever  remotely. 
It  is  scarce  four  hundred  years  old,  as  civilisation 
measures  time,  but  the  Spirit  of  Antiquity  has 
elected  to  reside  there,  and  has  moulded  the  city 
and  its  environs  to  enshrine  and  to  reflect  becom- 
ingly the  complex  witchery  and  graces  of  a  thou- 
sand ages.  Every  house  looks  old  as  soon  as  it 
is  built,  and  every  tree,  born  yesterday,  will  cast 
an  immemorial  deep  shade  to-morrow.  Every 
suburb  is  a  fairyland  of  restful  beauty :  every 
valley  is  a  brooding  sanctuary  of  mystery  and 
thrilling  loveliness :  every  lane  seems  to  have 
been  a  lovers'  walk  for  centuries.  Above  all 
stands  the  incomparable  Mountain,  keeping 
ceaseless  watch  and  ward  upon  the  lower  world, 
and  through  its  curtain  of  alabaster,  drift  clouds 
holding  eternal  communion  with  the  gods. 


146 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE    RAND 

T  N  the  year  1886  there  was  not  a  house  where 
Johannesburg  now  stands,  and  the  popula- 
tion of  the  entire  district  consisted  of  a  few 
scattered  farmers.  To-day  Johannesburg  is  the 
largest  city  in  South  Africa,  the  economic  capital 
of  the  Union,  and  the  pivot  round  which  the  in 
dustrial  and  commercial  machinery  of  the  whole 
sub-continent  revolves.  The  white  population 
exceeds  100,000  (of  whom  some  20,000  are  Jews) 
and  the  blacks  number  about  105,000.  The  city 
is  most  picturesquely  situated  on  the  southern 
slope  of  the  Witwatersrand  range,  5,763  feet 
above  sea  level.  The  great  gold  reefs  of  the 
Rand  (they  pronounce  the  word  "  Ront  "  in  South 
Africa)  stretch  out  in  long  wings  on  either  side  of 

147 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

the  town  for  a  total  distance  of  130  miles,  of 
which  some  40  miles  are  now  continuously  mined. 
One  sees  from  the  hill  tops  above  the  city  an  un- 
broken chain  of  poppet  lieads  and  gigantic  white 
quartz  mullock  heaps  extending  east  and  west 
farther  than  the  telescope  can  reach :  the  great 
lines  dotted  on  either  side  with  an  endless  suc- 
cession of  nigger  compounds,  iron  huts  and  cot- 
tages. North  and  south  the  residential  suburbs 
form  a  cross — and  a  contrast  too,  without  pre- 
cedent in  the  world.  Here  wealth  has  been 
poured  out  with  astonishing  prodigality,  even  on 
to  the  roads.  The  roads  are  superb.  They  wind 
for  scores  of  miles  among  a  wealth  of  splendid 
mansions,  hard,  smooth  and  level,  every  inch  of 
them  painted  extravagantly  thick  with  tar. 

On  every  side  between  the  flower-surrounded 
houses  are  plantations  of  gum  and  firs  and 
wattles.  Valleys  drop  precipitously  down  into 
the  bowels  of  the  veld,  densely  clothed  with  pines. 
Kopjes  tower  into  the  sky,  garlanded  with  trees 
and  crowned  with  jagged  tors.  In  all  these 
places  the  scenery  is  magnificently  beautiful. 
These  places  are  the  homes  of  the  rich.  They 
live  like  princes,  waited  on  by  retinues  of  liveried 
flunkies,  rushing  about  in  their  motor  cars,  enter- 

148 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

taining,  receiving,  squandering  money  like  water, 
yet  growing  richer  day  by  day.  What  wonder 
that  they  care  little  for  the  condition  of  the  poorer 
portion  of  the  city?  They  have  splendid  city 
offices,  and  at  least  two  gorgeous  city  streets 
wherein  to  do  their  business.  The  rest  can  "  go 
hang." 

Within  a  few  minutes'  walk  of  the  two 
main  thoroughfares  of  Johannesburg  is  a  network 
of  streets  and  lanes  that  cries  shame  upon  the 
Rand.  Dirty,  mean  little  houses,  broken,  almost 
impassable  roadways,  squalor  unspeakable.  And 
these  streets  stretch  out  for  miles.  Here  is  the 
quarter  of  the  "  poor  whites,"  wretched  victims  of 
the  Kaffirs'  monopoly  of  the  unskilled  labor 
market,  who  drive  an  infamous  living  by  the 
laundry  labor  of  their  wives,  the  prostitution  of 
their  daughters,  and  by  selling  liquor  in  secret 
to  the  native  hordes.  There  is  the  Malay  and 
Arab  quarter.  Yonder,  again,  the  quarter  of  the 
blacks.  In  these  dismal  thoroughfares  one  hears 
the  clashing  polyglot  of  a  score  of  diverse 
foreign  tongues.  The  niggers  impudently  litter 
the  pavement  and  laugh  and  gibe  at  wayfarers. 
The  Malays  and  Arabs  chew  their  opiate 
leaves  and  spit  and  dream.  One  sees  white 

149 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

children  scattered  through  this  murk  playing  in 
the  gutters,  picking  up  the  words  and  vices  of 
the  colored  scum.  Many  are  the  offspring  of 
skilled  artisans.  They^are  nearly  all  doomed  to 
degradation,  because  they  can  never  become 
skilled  workers  like  their  fathers — the  educa- 
tional avenue  of  unskilled  labor  being  barred  to 
them — and  therefore,  as  the  Kaffirs  and  Arabs 
and  Chinese  who  surround  them,  they  must  live 
and  die. 

The  Rand  lords  are  very  hospitable.  They 
entertained  us  in  a  princely  fashion,  and  took 
us  to  see  some  of  their  greatest  mines.  We  were 
shown  how  the  gold  is  won — ,£30,000,000  worth 
of  it  every  year — and  how  their  giant  dividends 
are  earned.  The  experience  was  full  of  a  most 
penetrating  interest.  What  stupendous  works, 
what  marvellous  machinery,  what  hordes  of 
miners !  What  a  multiplicity  of  diverse  occupa- 
tions !  Yet  everywhere  order  most  admirable ; 
and  reigning  over  every  section  of  the  vast  con- 
glomerate mass  of  effort  we  sensed  a  grand, 
almost  inexplicable  simplicity.  We  saw  electric 
power  stations  fed  by  coal  extracted  from  amidst 
the  gold,  and  erected  at  a  cost  of  millions  sterling, 
the  whole  forming  a  linked  system  of  prodigious 

150 


force  supplying  the  city  with  light  and  all  the 
mines  with  a  common  source  of  energy.  Coal 
mining  and  gold  mining  interlink  their  processes 
and  co-operate  to  form  a  wealth-producing  com- 
bination that  is  without  a  parallel  in  the  outer 
world. 

All  matter  here  and  around  is  the  servile 
bond-slave  of  the  triumphant  mind.  The  Rand 
is  a  mighty  palpitating  engine  squatted  across  the 
heart  of  a  wilderness.  Grinding  ceaselessly 
everything,  it  touches  into  gold — not  rocks  only, 
but  men's  lives.  Those  who  drive  the  engine  are 
surely  not  philanthropists.  And  yet,  super- 
ficially, they  seem  most  kind.  There  are  hos- 
pitals in  all  directions.  The  sick  workers,  both 
white  and  black,  are  treated  with  the  sweetest 
charity — but  they  die  like  flies.  Let  us  delve 
into  the  Rand  underworld  a  little.  On  nth 
May,  1907,  the  Earl  of  Selborne  appointed  a 
Commission  to  enquire  into  the  working  of  the 
Mining  Regulations,  with  a  view  to  making 
recommendations  for  the  better  protection  of  the 
health  of  miners.  This  Commission  issued  its 
final  report  in  1910.  Some  of  its  findings,  con- 
clusions and  recommendations  deserve  to  be 
quoted  fully  and  published  widely.  The  follow- 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

ing  paragraphs  are  transcribed  from  pages  253, 
254  and  255  of  the  report — 

"  5.  That  from  the  figures  before  us  the 
"  nominal  general  death-rate  amongst  surface  and 
"  underground  white  '  mining  males '  on  the 
"  Rand  during  the  triennium  1905-06-07,  would 
"  at  first  sight  appear  to  have  been  comparatively 
"  low :  but  that  this  apparently  low  death-rate 
"  amongst  white  '  mining  males '  generally  con- 
"  cealed  a  very  high  mortality  amongst  a  limited 
"  class  (13  per  cent.)  viz.,  white  '  rock  drillers.' ' 

"  6.  That  the  death-rate  from  '  All  Diseases  ' 
"  amongst  white  '  mining  males  of  twenty  and 
*  over,'  was  greatly  in  excess  of  that  amongst 
"  white  '  non-mining  males  of  twenty  and  over  ' : 
"  when  the  necessary  correction  for  age-constitu- 
"  tion  of  white  '  mining  males '  is  made,  this 
"  excess  was  about  60  per  cent. 

"  7.  That  the  death-rate  from  '  phthisis  '  (in- 
"  eluding  miners'  phthisis)  at  ages  of  twenty  and 
"  over,  was  more  than  six  times  greater  amongst 
"  white  '  mining  males  '  than  amongst  white  '  non- 
"  '  mining  males.' 

"  8.  That  as  most  of  the  white  miners  who  die 
"  locally  from  phthisis  are  rock-drillers,  the  ratio 
"  of  6  to  i  by  no  means  represents  the  actual  dis- 

152 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  proportion  in  their  particular  case,  especially  as 
"  a  considerable  number  go  back  to  die  in  Corn- 
"  wall  and  elsewhere. 

"  9.  That  no  conclusive  evidence  has  been 
"  adduced  that  there  has  been  any  alteration  in 
"  the  phthisis  death-rate  amongst  white  *  mining 

'  males '  on  the  Rand  during  the  years  1905- 
"  06-07. 

"  10.     That  the  death-rate  from  '  respiratory 

'  diseases  and   other  phthisis '   amongst  white 

'  mining  males  '  at  ages  of  twenty  and  over  was 
"  70  per  cent,  greater  than  that  amongst  similar 
"white  'non-mining  males,'  viz.,  1.7  to  i.o. 

"  12.  That  as  regards  white  miners,  there  is 
"  little  doubt  that  the  incidence  of  pneumonia  is 
"  materially  heavier  than  amongst  non-miners  : 
"  that  certain  conditions  incidental  to  under- 
"  ground  mining  work  no  doubt  favour  its  de- 
"  velopment :  that  the  disease  is  usually  caused 
"  by  the  pneumococcus,  and  is  predisposed  to  by 
"  devitalizing  influences,  such  as  irregularities 
"  and  excesses  of  life,  overcrowding  and  air-pol- 
"  lution,  and  neglect  of  precaution  against  chill, 
"  and,  amongst  natives,  by  the  presence  of  calci- 
"  fied  bilharzia  ova  in  the  lungs. 

"15.  That  natives  from  the  purely  tropical 
153 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  districts,  Northern  Rhodesia,  British  Central 
"  Africa,  Quillimane,  and  Mozambique,  show 
"  very  high  death  rates.  Pneumonia  is  the  most 
"  important  direct  cause  of  this  excessive  mor- 
"  tality. 

"  1 6.  That  pneumonia  accounts  for  almost  40 
"  per  cent,  of  native  deaths  from  '  all  causes/ 
"  and  is  nearly  six  times  higher  amongst  tropical 
"  than  amongst  British  South  African  natives, 
"  excluding  natives  of  Basutoland. 

"  17.  That  tuberculosis  ranks  next  to  pneu- 
"  monia  as  a  cause  of  death  and  contributes  1 8 
"  per  cent,  of  the  total  native  mortality :  that  its 
"  incidence  is  heaviest  on  tropical  natives,  and 
"  that  the  majority  of  cases  appear  to  originate  on 
"  the  Rand." 

"  1 8.  That  by  far  the  most  important  factor 
"  in  miners'  phthisis  is  the  inhalation  of  irritating 
"  dust  created  by  rock-drilling,  shovelling,  and 
"  blasting,  and  that  though  other  sources  of  air- 
"  vitiation,  e.g.,  noxious  fumes,  are  adjuvant 
"  causes,  the  condition  is  essentially  a  '  silicosis  ' 
"  or  '  pneumokoniosis/  to  which,  in  the  later 
"  stages,  tubercular  infection  is  often  super- 
"  added." 

"  20.  That  the  average  period  of  rock-drill 
154 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  employment  on  the  Rand  is  from  7  to  9  years, 
"  and  the  average  age  at  death  from  silicosis  is 
"35  years,  as  compared  with  about  50  years  at 
"  Bendigo,  where,  however,  the  incidence  of  the 
"  disease  is  considerably  higher. 

"21.  That  the  inhalation  of  dust  can  be  pre- 
"  vented  by  the  free  use  of  water  in  connection 
"  with  the  operations  (rock-drilling,  blasting,  and 
"  lashing)  which  create  or  raise  dust :  that  the 
"  provision  of  a  constant  supply  of  suitably  clean 
"  water  for  this  purpose  should  be  most  rigor- 
"  ously  insisted  upon  whenever  and  wherever 
"  developmental  work  is  carried  on,  where  the 
"  natural  strata  are  not  wet,  and  in  every  dry  and 
"  dusty  stope :  that,  with  equal  rigor  miners 
"  should  be  compelled  to  make  use  of  the  water 
"  thus  provided  :  and  that  no  exception  whatever 
"  should  be  permitted  as  regards  the  enforce- 
"  ment  of  this  or  some  equally  effective  measure. 

"22.  That  on  5th  November,  1908,  special 
"  representation  was  made  to  the  Hon.  the 
"  Minister  of  Mines  by  this  Commission,  as  to 
"  the  outstanding  importance  of  this  matter :  and 
"  that  on  the  24th  December,  1908,  very  explicit 
"  regulations  embodying  the  Commission's 
"  recommendations  were  gazetted 

155 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  23.  That  we  now  further  recommend  that 
"  where  rock-drilling  is  being  carried  on,  the  floor 
"  and  sides  of  the  working  place  to  a  distance  of 
"  i  oft.  from  the  face,  be  kept  sufficiently  damped 
"  to  prevent  dust  being  raised  by  the  escape  of 
"  exhaust  air :  and  that  the  damping  of  dry  and 
"  dusty  rock  be  carried  out  not  only  before  lash- 
"  ing  commences,  but  be  repeated  as  often  as 
"  necessary  while  lashing  proceeds  (Draft  Regu- 
"  lation  97  (i)  I  (2) ). 

"  24.  That  there  has  been  a  fairly  ready  com- 
"  pliance  on  the  part  of  mine  managers  with  the 
"  dust-laying  regulations  gazetted  24th  Decem- 
"  ber,  1908  :  but  that  there  is  considerable  diffi- 
"  culty  in  keeping  rock-drillers  up  to  the  mark, 
"  owing  to  their  incredible  indifference,  not  to 
"  say  recklessness,  and  also,  in  some  degree,  to 
"  the  absence  of  direct  and  responsible  super- 
"  vision  in  this  respect :  that  we  have  therefore 
"in  draft  Regulation  No.  167,  made  such  super- 
"  vision  a  specified  duty  of  the  shift-bosses  :  and 
"  that  if  this  measure  fail  of  its  object,  then  the 
"  institution  of  a  system  of  continuous  inde- 
"  pendent  policing  will  be  imperatively  called 
"  for ;  for  nothing  short  of  the  strictest  legal  en- 
"  forcement  of  the  regulations  in  question  will 

156 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  meet  the  necessities  of  the  position  in  regard  to 
"  miners'  phthisis. 

"  26.  That  the  prevention  and  removal  of 
"  noxious  fumes  generated  from  explosives  is 
"  very  important. 

"27.  That  the  employment  after  blasting  of 
"  some  such  apparatus  as  James'  water-blast  or 
"  Roberts'  exhaust  apparatus  should  be  obliga- 
"  tory  in  all  close  ends  (vide  Draft  Regulation 

"  58). 

"  28.  That  the  adoption,  where  practicable, 
"  of  the  single-shift  system  is  desirable,  because 
"  it  allows  a  much  longer  period  for  dust  to  settle 
"  and  fumes  to  disperse  after  blasting." 

"31.  That,  after  careful  consideration,  we 
"  recommend  the  exclusion  from  work  under- 
"  ground  of  all  persons  infected  with  tuberculosis 
"  of  the  respiratory  organs. 

"  32.  That  this  measure  will  involve  medical 
"  examination  before  engagement,  and  compul- 
"  sory  notification  of  the  disease  amongst  white 
"  miners,  as  soon  as  symptoms  manifest  them- 
"  selves.  No  recommendation  as  to  notification 
"  of  cases  amongst  natives  is  necessary,  as  they 
"  quickly  come  under  medical  care,  and  a  monthly 
"  return  of  sickness  and  mortality  is  already 
"  rendered." 

157 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  34.  That  the  prevention  of  spitting  in  mines 
"  is  of  the  greatest  importance,  but  with  hordes  of 
"  semi-savages  is  an  almost  hopeless  problem. 

"35.  That  the  disinfection  of  working  places 
"  in  mines  is  essentially  an  impracticable  pro- 
"  position,  but  that  the  frequent  cleansing  and 
"  disinfection  of  shaft-stations  and  of  compound 
"  rooms  is  both  practicable  and  desirable." 

The  true  significance  of  the  paragraphs  above 
quoted  can  only  be  grasped  by  careful  analytic 
thinking.  The  statement,  for  example,  that 
mining  males  of  20  years  of  age  and  over  have 
a  total  death  rate  of  60  per  cent,  in  excess  of  non- 
mining  males  must  be  considered  in  relation  to 
the  fact  that  in  the  non-mining  population  there 
is  always  a  large  proportion  of  old  people  who 
have  a  high  death  rate,  whereas  on  the  mines 
there  are  no  old  people  at  all.  The  death  statis- 
tics of  England,  reckoned  over  long  periods, 
show  that  the  general  death  rate  of  a  mixed  popu- 
lation is  approximately  from  twice  to  2\  times 
greater  than  the  death  rate  of  men  from  20  to  35 
years  old.  The  Commission  makes  it  fairly  clear 
that  the  death  rate  for  white  underground 
workers  on  the  Rand  must  be  from  about  25  to 
30  per  1,000  per  annum,  which  is  nearly  4  times 

158 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

the  normal  death  rate  of  men  of  their  age.  The 
rock  drillers  of  the  Rand  work  from  7  to  9  years, 
and  their  average  age  at  death  is  35  years.  In 
order  to  realise  what  this  means,  we  must  picture 
a  death  rate  at  all  ages  of  a  general  population 
increased  in  the  same  proportion.  We  should 
then  have  a  death  rate  of  75  per  thousand,  which 
would  be  sufficient  to  obliterate  the  whole  popu- 
lation in  a  few  years,  since  infants  could  not  be 
produced  rapidly  enough  to  make  up  for  the 
deaths.  A  glance  at  the  Official  History  of  the 
Boer  War  shows  the  recorded  death-rate  of 
British  soldiers  who  were  "  killed  in  action  "  is 
much  less  than  that  suffered  by  the  Rand  rock 
drillers  from  1905  to  1907;  and  the  death-rate 
"  from  all  causes  "  in  the  British  Army  during  the 
war  was  also  substantially  lower  than  amongst 
the  underground  white  miners.  Manifestly 
mining  on  the  Rand  is  more  mortally  perilous 
than  war. 

The  death-rate  amongst  the  negro  workers  on 
the  Rand  for  1906-7  is  given  on  page  47  of  the 
Report.  The  Commission  says  that  the  average 
annual  death  rate  for  tropical  natives  has  de- 
clined from  130  per  1,000  in  1904  to  70.5  per 
1,000  in  1906,  and  that  the  average  death-rate 

159 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

for  "  all  natives  "  in  the  same  year  is  30.8.  The 
native  death-rate  (see  Appendix  B)  for  various 
places  of  origin  is  as  follows — Quilimane  natives, 
96.8;  Mozambique  natives,  67.5;  Central  Africa 
natives,  62.9;  Rhodesia  natives,  46.2;  East  Coast 
natives  (south  of  lat.  22),  33.7;  Transvaal 
natives,  22.8;  Cape  Colony  natives,  14.2;  and 
Natal  natives,  n.6.  These  rates  are  for  men 
who  are  all  in  the  first  flush  and  prime  of  life, 
and  to  find  their  equivalent  in  a  mixed  population 
we  should  multiply  each  of  the  various  figures  by 
2\.  This  would  give  us  a  general  death-rate  for 
"  tropical  natives  "  of  175  per  1,000  and  for  "  all 
"  natives "  of  75  per  1,000.  The  crude  rates 
stated  in  the  report  are  arrived  at  without  making 
any  allowance  for  natives  who  fall  sick  in  the 
mines  and  who  die  after  leaving  the  mines. 
Merely  those  who  actually  die  on  the  mines' 
premises  are  counted.  On  page  263  of  Vol.  n 
of  the  Report,  the  following  words  are  to  be 
found  in  the  sworn  evidence  of  Dr.  Irvine : 
"  The  remainder,  when  fit  to  travel,  are  dis- 
11  charged  and  repatriated,  but  of  those  who  have 
"  long  distances  to  travel,  few  reach  their  kraals." 
We  can  only  guess  at  what  the  death-rates 
would  truly  be  if  the  "  kraal  "  rates  were  added. 

160 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

But  the  official  mines'  rates  are  quite  terrible 
enough.  They  prove  beyond  a  doubt  that  the 
Rand  is  an  engine  of  wholesale  destruction. 
The  mines  "  polish  off  "  tropical  natives  with  re- 
morseless expedition,  practically  decimating 
them  every  year,  indeed  :  and  they  do  not  treat 
the  whites  much  better.  The  annual  fatal 
accident  death-rate  is  over  8  per  1,000,  a  rate 
that  is  about  equal  to  the  normal  death-rate  of 
men  of  that  age,  20  to  40  years.  The  Chamber 
of  Mines  Report  for  the  year  1909,  on  pages  372, 
373,  shows  that  29,942  workers  perished  on  the 
Transvaal  mines  during  the  five  years  ending 
1909.  As  the  Regulation  Commission,  p.  34, 
Vol.  I.,  admits  that  a  large  proportion  of  deaths 
of  white  workers  due  to  the  mines  is  not  credited 
to  them,  and  the  actual  words  used  are  "  at  least 
"  one  third,  and  probably  more,  of  the  disabled 
"  Rand  miners  leave  the  country  and  die  else- 
"  where,"  and  states,  in  Vol.  II.,  that  numbers  of 
natives  are  repatriated  in  the  last  stages  of 
disease,  "  VERY  FEW  OF  WHOM  REACH  THEIR 
"  KRAALS,"  it  is  difficult  to  avoid  the  conclusion 
that  the  Rand  is  a  death  trap.  That  it  ought  not 
to  be  is  clear.  The  Native  Affairs  Report  for 
1909  shows  that  some  of  the  mines  have  a  death- 

161 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

rate  exceeding  100  per  1,000,  and  others  of  a 
precisely  similar  character  a  rate  as  low  as  8.1 
per  1,000.  These  figures  prove  that  mining  on 
the  Rand  is  not  necessarily  unhealthy,  and  that 
the  high  average  death-rate  is  due  to  some  of  the 
mines  working  in  a  manner  that  disgraces 
humanity.  On  page  46,  Vol.  I.,  of  the  Regula- 
tions Commission's  Report,  the  following  para- 
graph occurs — 

"  In  this  connection  we  would  quote  the  con- 

"  viction  of   Dr.    Haldane,    Mr.   J.   S.    Martin, 

"  Government    Inspector    of    Mines,    and    Mr. 

"Arthur    Thomas,    manager    of    the    Dolcoath 

"  Mines,    as    recorded    in   their   report   on   the 

"  '  Health  of  Cornish  Miners/  viz. : — *  that  there 

" '  is  no  reason  why  work  underground,  in  what- 

" '  ever  kind  of  mine,  should  not  be  a  perfectly 

" '  healthy    employment :     the    work    itself    is 

"  *  thoroughly  wholesome  both  to  body  and  mind, 

" '  and  the  special  dangers,  whether  to  health  or 

" '  to   life   and   limb,    associated   with   different 

" '  varieties  of  mining  are  such  as,  if  recognised 

*  and  faced,  can  be  avoided,  provided  that  both 

'  employers  and  employed  will  co-operate  in 

'  bringing  this  end  about.' ' 

It  is  therefore  clear  that  the  death-rate,  both 

162 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

for  blacks  and  whites,  of  these  mines  is 
"  abnormal  and  higher  than  the  death-rate  of 
"  other  mining  and  industrial  centres." 

The  Commissioner's  report,  paragraph  24, 
hereinbefore  quoted,  blames  the  men  for  reckless- 
ness and  carelessness,  and  would  seem  to  charge 
them  with  being  responsible  for  their  own  hideous 
mortality.  The  accusation  is  scarcely  just  and 
lacks  a  deal  in  chanty.  The  miners  are  unedu- 
cated men,  who  are  not  capable  of  defending 
themselves  from  the  death  that  haunts  them 
underground.  They  do  not  know  the  actual 
gravity  of  the  risk  they  run,  and  can  only 
make  the  discovery  by  dying.  The  men  are 
castigated  by  the  Commission  for  being  such 
fools  as  to  work  when  sick,  and  for  not  leaving 
rock-drill  employment  when  they  have  got 
phthisis.  There  are  two  reasons  for  these  facts 
which  are  known  to  medical  science,  if  not  to  the 
general  public.  Miners  whose  health  is  bad 
generally,  feel  stronger  and  better  in  every  way 
below  ground  than  on  the  surface.  Why  this 
should  be  so  it  would  be  hard  to  say :  it  may  be 
due  to  the  increased  air-pressure  below  ground : 
but  it  is  a  fact.  It  is  only  natural  that  men 
should  not  think  "  mining  "  is  undermining  their 

163 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

health  when  they  feel  better  below  than  when 
they  are  above  ground. 

Again,  the  average  consumptive  patient  is 
possessed  by  the  "  spes  thisica/'  the  "  hopeful 
"  madness  "  to  which  nearly  all  miners  suffering 
from  miners'  phthisis  are  subject.  It  makes  them 
talk  hopefully  of  what  they  are  going  to  do  in 
half  a  dozen  years,  when  as  a  fact  they  will  be 
lying  in  their  coffins  within  as  many  weeks.  It 
explains  why  rock-drill  men,  once  they  get 
phthisis,  usually  proceed  with  their  work  until  it 
destroys  them. 

The  Mines  Managers  and  the  Government 
ought  to  protect  these  poor  wretches  from  the 
consequences  of  their  own  ignorance.  It  is 
gratifying  to  know  that  the  Union  Government 
has  lately  wakened  up  to  a  sense  of  its  duty  and 
that  laws  have  already  been  passed  in  the  hope 
of  bringing  about  a  better  state  of  things.  These 
laws,  however,  have  yet  to  demonstrate  their 
efficacy.  Meanwhile,  I  am  personally  thankful 
that  I  do  not  own  any  Rand  shares.  Mr.  E.  J. 
Moynihan,  of  Johannesburg,  a  publicist  of  note 
and  an  expert  mining  statist,  has  carefully 
analysed  the  death  rates  and  the  productive 

164 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

figures  of  the  Rand,  and  his  investigations  have 
led  him  to  indict  the  mines  as  follows — 

"Every  ,£1,200  paid  in  dividends  on  these 
"fields,  in  the  five  years  ending  with  1909,  has 
"  meant  the  known  and  avoidable  loss  of  a  human 
"  life,  without  counting  serious  accidents  and  at 
"  least  twenty  illnesses  known  to  the  doctors. 
"  If  all  the  criminals  in  the  Fort  had  been  turned 
"  loose  for  five  years,  they  would  have  done  less 
"  harm  to  the  community  than  this  mining  indus- 
"  try  did  in  that  time  in  this  gold-stricken  place, 
"  where  blood  is  spilt  like  water,  human  lives 
"  thrown  away  like  dirt,  where  lungs  are  turned 
"  to  stone  below  ground,  and  above  ground 
"  hearts  turned  to  flint." 

That  is  a  dreadful  charge ;  but,  unhappily,  the 
charge  rings  true. 

The  facts  that  I  have  set  down  above  are 
odious  to  relate,  yet  they  ought  to  be  related. 
They  indicate  that  the  Rand  gold  is  rather  a 
curse  than  a  blessing  to  South  Africa.  South 
Africa  to  a  very  large  extent  lives  upon  it,  but 
how  many  victims  die !  The  system  is  one  of 
thinly  disguised,  blood-smeared  slavery.  The 
foundations  of  it  are  the  blacks,  who  toil  for  a 
pittance  and  perish  like  locusts.  A  little  higher 

165 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

up  are  the  white  workers.  They  earn  on  an  aver- 
age jC1  Per  day,  but  they  live  only  from  seven 
to  nine  years !  On  top  are  the  magnates,  who 
hold  their  feasts  and  levees  and  dwell  in  imperial 
luxury.  The  money  they  lavish  keeps  the 
wheels  of  South  African  commerce  moving 
steadily.  Ancient  Nineveh  and  Babylon  have 
been  revived.  Johannesburg  is  their  twentieth 
century  prototype.  It  is  a  city  of  unbridled 
squander  and  unfathomable  squalor.  Living  is 
more  costly  than  one's  wildest  dreams.  All  the 
necessaries  of  life  are  impudently  dear.  Miners 
of  England  and  Australia,  however  poor  may  be 
your  lot,  however  dark  your  present  prospects, 
let  no  man  tempt  you  to  South  Africa  with  tales 
of  the  wages  that  are  paid  upon  the  Rand  !  The 
wages  are  high  indeed,  but  the  price  the  workers 
pay  for  them  is  paid  in  suffering  and  blood. 
Better  a  thousand  times  to  perish  as  paupers  in 
your  own  country,  if  such  a  chance  should  hap, 
than  race  to  an  early  tomb  in  a  hot,  deep  African 
cavern. 

NOTE. — During  the  1910-11  Session,  the  Union  Parliament  passed 
the  Miners'  Phthisis  Allowances  Act,  an  avowedly  temporary  measure 
designed  to  alleviate  the  distress  of  sufferers,  pending  a  fuller  under- 
standing of  the  problem.  A  Commission  was  immediately  afterwards 
appointed  by  the  Government  to  enquire  into  the  whole  question  of 

1 66 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

Miners'  Phthisis  and  the  means  of  its  prevention.  The  Commission 
issued  a  preliminary  report  on  ist  August,  1912,  strongly  urging  the 
enaction  of  special  legislation  to  enforce  certain  practical  precautions 
in  all  mining  operations  against  the  dust,  which  is  the  chief  source 
and  provocative  agent  of  the  disease.  The  Commission's  Report  in- 
ferentially  denounced  the  existing  laws  and  regulations  as  being 
insufficient  for  the  purpose.  It  stated  that  on  many  mines  the  pre- 
ventive measures  recommended  are  already  being  carried  out  with 
pronounced  success,  but  suggested  that  universal  adoption  of  them 
would  be  necessary  to  effect  "  a  considerable  all-round  improvement 
"on  existing  conditions."  The  Commission's  Report  has  not  yet 
resulted  in  legislative  action  for  reform.  So  far  the  Union  Parlia- 
ment has  been  content  to  pass  an  Act  making  provision  for  persons 
who  have  already  contracted  Miners'  Phthisis.  This  Act  came  into 
force  in  August,  1912.  It  provides  for  the  compulsory  medical  in- 
spection of  all  underground  miners  and  for  the  compensation  of  those 
who  have  become  diseased  or  disabled  by  the  scourge.  The  measure  is 
a  humane  and  useful  one,  no  doubt,  but  it  cannot  be  described  as 
other  than  a  palliative,  for  it  leaves  the  main  problem — the  preven- 
tion of  Miners'  Phthisis  and  the  protection  of  miners  from  its 
ravages — practically  untouched.  Let  us  hope  that  when  the  Com- 
mission's final  report  is  presented  the  Union  Parliament  will  no 
longer  hesitate  to  do  its  duty. 


167 


CHAPTER  XII 

CRIME 

/T~"*HE  supreme  test  of  indigency  and  unem- 
ployment in  any  country  is  always  to  be 
found  in  its  criminal  statistics.  The  Union 
of  South  Africa  has  no  "  Year  Book  "  like  other 
British  Dominions,  neither  have  the  provincial 
Governments  under  the  Union.  The  people  of 
South  Africa,  indeed,  have  habitually  displayed 
a  singular  reticence  in  submitting  their  public 
affairs  to  critical  examination,  and  the  usual  work 
of  the  statist  has  too  often  been  left  for  special 
Commissions  to  accomplish  when  the  need  of 
obtaining  reliable  information  on  which  to  build 
reforms  became  too  acute  for  urgent  special 
reasons  to  be  neglected.  During  my  recent  visit 
to  the  sub-continent  I  made  many  futile  efforts 

1 68 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

to  ascertain  the  actual  criminality  of  the  com- 
munity. I  saw  much  evidence  of  indigence 
around  me,  and  everywhere  I  went  many  signs 
and  symbols  of  unemployment  (especially  among 
the  juvenile  population),  but  I  hesitated,  never 
theless,  to  pass  judgment  on  those  facts  until  I 
should  be  in  a  position  to  compare  them  with  the 
figures  of  crime :  for  in  my  opinion  (based  on  a 
prolonged  experience  in  Australia  and  elsewhere) 
crime  is  the  surest,  if  not  the  only  sure,  index  of 
the  real  gravity  and  extent  and  character  of  that 
deadliest  of  social  evils,  unemployment.  There 
are  two  brands  of  indigency — temporary  indi- 
gency,  caused  usually  by  commercial  depression 
of  a  casual  nature  or  seasonal  trade  vicissitudes ; 
and  permanent  indigency,  which  is,  per  contra, 
the  offspring  of  industrial  decrepitude,  trade  de- 
cline, or  a  general  repletion  of  the  labor  market. 
It  is  true  that  I  recognised  the  existence  of  many 
peculiar  industrial  conditions  in  South  Africa 
which  do  not  pertain  to  any  other  country,  and 
which  appeared  to  attest  the  sincerity  of  the  pre- 
vailing manifestations  of  indigency,  and  to  sig- 
nify their  quality  of  permanence.  But  not  even 
when  I  had  perused  and  studied  the  Report  of 
the  Transvaal  Indigency  Commission  (which  I 

169 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

have  quoted  extensively  in  earlier  chapters)  did 
I  feel  justified  in  accepting  its  findings  as  con- 
clusively confirmatory  of  my  own  impressions  : 
and  I  would  certainly  not  have  written  this  book 
in  its  present  form  if  the  criminal  statistics  of  the 
Union  had  continued  to  elude  me.  I  had  my 
opinion,  but  I  would  have  kept  it  to  myself.  No 
man  has  the  right  to  accuse  a  great  country  unless 
he  can  support  his  charges,  and  I  like  the  people 
of  South  Africa  too  well  to  libel  them  even  by 
suggestions  grounded  on  irrefutable  verities. 
However,  during  the  last  few  days  of  my  sojourn 
in  Cape  Town  official  statements  of  the  condition 
of  criminality  within  the  Union  were  made  in 
Parliament,  which  banished  the  last  cause  of 
reasonable  doubt.  The  figures  I  had  vainly 
searched  were  extracted  from  the  departmental 
pigeon-holes  by  the  hon.  member  for  Troyeville, 
Mr.  Quinn,  and  published  to  the  world.  The 
final  method  of  testing  South  Africa's  indigency 
was  thus  made  available  to  me.  Mr.  Quinn's 
speech  was  printed  in  extenso  in  the  Cape  Times 
of  the  7th  December,  1910;  and  on  the  same 
date  that  journal  published  a  weighty  leading 
article  on  the  subject,  which  accepted  Mr.  Quinn's 
statistics  as  absolutely  genuine  and  praised  him 

170 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

warmly  for  "  the  good  service  "  he  did  the  country 
in  making  them  public,  and  for  urging  that  "  the 
"  alarming  growth  of  the  prison  population " 
should  be  checked.  Further  evidence  of  the 
accuracy  of  the  hon.  gentleman's  figures  is  con- 
tained in  the  facts  that  the  Union  Government 
had  neither  reply  to  make  nor  remark  to  offer, 
and  that  every  member  of  both  Houses  of  Parlia- 
ment tacitly  admitted  their  truth.  The  figures 
were  supplied  to  Mr.  Quinn  by  the  Secretary  of 
the  Law  Department,  and  they  have  never  been 
disputed.  They  are  remarkable  in  the  fullest 
meaning  of  the  term.  The  main  facts  may  be 
summarised  as  follows — 

(1)  Since    the    war,    in    the    Transvaal    alone, 

;£  500,000  has  been  spent  in  new  prison 
buildings,  yet  the  prison  accommodation 
is  still  inadequate. 

(2)  The  average  daily  prison  population  in  the 

Union  is  15,000. 

(3)  The  average  daily  prison  population  in  the 

Transvaal  is  6,637. 

(4)  Of  all  the  people  within  the  Union  one  in 

every  366  is  in  prison  each  day  of  the 
year. 

(5)  Of  all  the  people  within  the  Transvaal  one 

171 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

in  every  245  is  in  prison  each  day  of  the 
year. 

(6)  In  England,  the  corresponding  figure  is  one 

person  in  1,600. 

(7)  The  Union  spends  ,£2,145,000  on  the  ad- 

ministration of  justice  every  ten  months, 
and  of  this  ,£1,583,000  is  spent  on  police 
and  prisons. 

(8)  The  expenditure  on  Education  for  the  same 

period  is  ,£1,384,000. 

(9)  Every  child  in  South  Africa  costs  the  State 

£12  per  annum  to  educate,  every  prisoner 

,£100  per  annum  to  maintain. 
(10)  During    the    year     1908-9,     some     59,000 

prisoners  were  housed  in  the  Transvaal 

gaols  alone, 
(n)  The  criminality  of  all  South  Africa  is  more 

than  four  times  as  great  as  the  criminality 

of  England. 

(12)  The  criminality  of  the  Transvaal  is  nearly 

seven  times  as  great  as  the  criminality  of 
England. 

(13)  Crime  in  all  parts  of  S.  Africa  is  steadily 

and  seriously  increasing. 

(14)  White    juvenile    crime    is    increasing    more 

rapidly  (especially  in  the  Transvaal)  than 

adult  crime. 

172 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

(15)  The  reason  officially  suggested  for  the  larger 

increase  of  white  juvenile  crime  is  the 
absence  of  educational  facilities  afforded 
children  of  white  people  to  become  skilled 
workers,  "  whereby  they  are  condemned 
to  idleness  and  unemployment." 

(16)  There  are  200,000  white  children  now  at 

school  in  South  Africa.  In  present  cir- 
cumstances, no  adequate  means  exist  to 
train  more  than  a  small  fraction  of  them 
as  skilled  artisans  or  to  give  them  any  sort 
of  real  industrial  efficiency.  The  skilled 
trades  are  thereby  barred  to  them.  The 
unskilled  trades  are  monopolised  by  the 
Kaffirs.  They  seem  predestined  to  indi- 
gency,  indolence  and  crime.  As  Mr. 
Quinn  remarked ; — "  Newspapers  are  not 
"  numerous  enough  in  South  Africa  to 
"  give  all  these  children  jobs  of  selling 
"  papers  in  the  streets.  What  is  to  be- 
"  come  of  them  ?  "  The  question  rests 
unanswered. 

A  defect  in  Mr.  Quinn's  disclosures  that  must 
be  noted  is  their  failure  to  separate  the  white  and 
colored  prison  population.  The  Cape  Times 
notices  this  failure  but  treats  it  as  of  no  great 

173 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

practical  importance,  and  gravely  warns  the  white 
South  African  that  he  cannot  on  thit  account 
afford  to  "  let  things  take  their  course."  The 
fact  appears  to  be  that- while  the  negroes  are  to 
some  extent  responsible  for  the  unfavourable 
figure  that  South  African  criminality  presents  in 
gross  comparison  with  other  countries,  the  whites 
are  chiefly  to  blame.  The  increase  of  crime  in 
recent  years  has  not  been  specified  in  mathemati- 
cal terms,  but  it  is  admitted  to  be  "  deplorably 
"  great "  and  to  be  due  chiefly  to  an  excessive 
proportional  increase  in  crime  among  the  juvenile 
white  population.  While  the  departmental 
records  are  silent  on  the  point,  there  is  a  general 
consensus  of  opinion  that  crime  among  the  natives 
is  decreasing.  (Vide  Appendix  A.)  The  natives, 
broadly  speaking,  are  an  extremely  servile,  duti- 
ful and  law  abiding  class.  Their  presence 
among  the  white  community  is  only  suffered  on 
condition  that  they  work.  Those  amenable  to 
the  white  man's  legal  discipline  are  workers  every 
one,  and  in  continuous  employment.  Crime  may 
possibly  be  serious  in  the  kraals,  but  in  the  kraals 
the  white  man's  law  does  not  hold  sway,  and  the 
kraals  do  not  contribute  directly  to  the  prison 
population  of  the  country.  The  negroes  who 

174 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

work  for  and  live  among  the  whites  are  the  best 
of  their  race,  and  the  universal  testimony  of  the 
greatest  employers  of  black  labor  in  South  Africa 
is  that  the  native  worker  is  a  remarkably  good 
citizen.  As  bearing  out  this  view  the  Cape 
Times  explicitly  refers  South  Africa's  deplorable 
general  criminality  to  the  "  indigent  white  prob- 
"  lem,"  and  to  the  absence  of  a  proper  system  of 
industrial  and  technical  education;  and  it 
specifically  connects  the  untaught  pupil  with  the 
prisoner.  For  the  rest  Mr.  Quinn's  figures  tell 
their  own  story.  Unemployment  is  the  parent  of 
idleness.  Idleness  breeds  indigency.  Indi- 
gency  is  both  the  father  and  mother  of  crime. 
In  South  Africa  we  have  the  vicious  circle  com- 
plete. The  Indigency  Commission  tells  us  of  an 
amount  of  permanent  unemployment  and  idle- 
ness, the  proportions  of  which  it  shrinks  from 
specifying,  but  admits  are  "  lamentably  great." 
The  criminal  statistics  carry  the  tale  forward  to 
the  bounds  of  horror,  then  back  to  the  creative 
agencies  of  crime.  If  crime  in  the  Union  had 
been  relatively  comparable  with,  although  exceed- 
ing, crime  in  other  countries,  some  ground  would 
have  been  left  to  question  still  the  persistency  of 
South  Africa's  indigent  conditions,  because  the 

175 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

native  population  is  large  and  wholesale  crime 
does  not  spring  out  of  indigency  in  a  day  or  in  a 
year.  But  here  the  ground  of  disputation  is  cut 
away  from  beneath  our' feet.  The  criminality  of 
South  Africa  is  unparalleled  in  the  civilised 
world.  It  has  been  too  great  for  several  years : 
its  dimensions  are  now  appalling  and  steadily  in- 
creasing. And  the  worst  form  of  crime,  "  juvenile 
"  crime,"  shows  the  highest  rate  of  increase. 
Public  opinion  in  South  Africa,  as  expressed  in 
Parliament  and  the  Press,  attributes  juvenile 
crime  to  the  lack  of  a  proper  system  of  industrial 
education.  But  the  explanation  is  insufficient. 
It  is  merely  valuable  to  note,  because  it  proves 
that  the  people  begin  to  realise  that  enforced 
idleness  both  occasions  and  excuses  crime.  Men 
must  live  in  spite  of  Talleyrand's  ironical  sug- 
gestion to  the  contrary,  and  if  they  cannot  make 
a  living  honestly  the  major  fault  lies  with  the 
conditions,  social  or  political,  which  drive  them 
to  certain  ways  of  crime  for  the  bread  which  they 
must  get  to  live.  One  of  these  culpable  con- 
ditions may  well  reside  in  South  Africa's  educa- 
tional hiatus,  but  a  more  important  factor  stares 
us  in  the  face.  The  rough  work  of  the  country 
is  all  performed  by  native  labor.  The  white 

176 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

population  has  got  into  a  fixed  habit  of  leaning 
on  the  negro  race.  If  there  were  no  blacks  in 
South  Africa  there  would  be  sufficient  permanent 
employment  immediately  available  to  support  in 
comfort  a  million  more  whites  than  the  country 
now  possesses.  But  the  blacks  teem  and  their 
labor  is  cheap.  They  cannot  be  displaced  from 
industry  and  their  advance  upon  the  avenues  of 
skilled  employment  cannot  be  arrested.  The 
country  belongs  to  them  of  natural  right,  and  so, 
too,  the  work  of  the  country  which  they  are  fitted 
to  perform.  Their  presence,  their  numbers,  the 
cheapness  of  their  labor,  and  their  natural  indis- 
putable right  to  work,  all  conspire  to  restrict 
within  narrow  and  almost  immutable  limits  the 
scope  of  white  employment.  The  fact  is  that  the 
white  laboring  population  of  South  Africa  largely 
exceeds  the  present  industrial  capacity  of  the 
country  to  absorb.  Many  thousands  of  whites 
could  be  spared  to  the  benefit,  in  every  sense,  of 
the  body  politic.  These  thousands  are  superflu- 
ous units.  They  are  a  public  burden  and  a 
national  disgrace.  In  the  Transvaal,  as  the 
prison  records  above  quoted  prove,  there  are  no 
fewer  than  59,000  criminals.  Most  of  these  are 
men  and  women  who  live  by  charity,  by  casual 

177 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

employment,  and  by  crime.  Only  the  negroes 
among  this  dreadful  herd  can  make  sure  of  get- 
ting even  casual  employment.  The  white 
criminals  are  unskilled  workers  and  "  Kaffir 
"work"  is  not  for  them  to  do.  Of  skilled 
workers  among  the  criminal  population  there  is 
scarcely  any  trace :  and  that  is  natural,  because 
skilled  artisans  are  industrious  of  habit  and  they 
can  make  more  money  by  honest  effort  than  by 
crime.  The  rising  generation  of  the  white  popu- 
lation in  South  Africa  deserves  the  heartfelt  pity 
of  mankind.  There  are  200,000  white  children 
at  school  in  the  Union  to-day.  The  outside 
chances  are  that  no  more  than  100,000  of  these 
hapless  innocents  have  a  decent  career  before 
them.  This  estimate  is,  in  my  honest  opinion, 
far  too  liberal,  but  I  advance  it  to  obviate  any 
suspicion  of  exaggeration.  And  what  is  to  be- 
come of  the  remainder?  The  hon.  member  for 
Troyeville  does  not  know.  The  Government  of 
the  Union  does  not  know.  Parliament  does  not 
know.  Meanwhile  juvenile  crime  is  increasing 
horribly  and  the  prison  population  mounts  apace. 


178 


VICTORIA    FALLS 


CHAPTER  XIII 

RHODESIA   AND   THE   VICTORIA   FALLS 

/T"^O  reach  the  Zambesi  one  must  journey  1,642 
miles  north  from  Kimberley,  through  Rho- 
desia, in  a  crawling  railway  train,  running 
on  a  3  ft.  6  inch  gauge.  The  party  with  which  I 
travelled  was  luxuriously  catered  for  by  the  hos- 
pitality of  the  Union  Government,  but  when  we 
arrived  at  our  destination  we  were  fervently  re- 
joiced. Everybody  was  train  tired  and  incredibly 
dusty.  Overnight  we  had  traversed  a  long 
stretch  of  Rhodesian  desert :  the  diurnal  rain 
storm  had  disappointed  us  on  the  evening 
previous;  the  thermometer  approached  100  deg. 
in  the  shade,  and  nobody  had  slept.  We 
"  landed  "  from  the  train  weary,  dishevelled,  in 
spite  of  all  our  efforts  to  "  furbish  up,"  and 

179 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

generally  confessing  an  inclination  to  be  cynical. 
The  truth  is,  Rhodesia  failed  to  approach  our 
expectations.  We  had  been  promised  that  we 
should  see  a  country  so  rich,  so  originally  lovely, 
and  so  variously  beautiful,  that  we  should  fall  out 
of  love  with  our  own  land  and  make  prompt 
tender  of  our  allegiance  and  our  strayed  affections 
to  this  new  Dark  Lady  of  the  Torrid  Zone.  The 
event  did  little  except  seal  our  faith  in  the 
superior  beauties  and  bounties  of  Australia. 
From  Kimberley  to  Bulawayo  we  travelled 
across  a  boundless  table  land,  a  treeless  plain, 
hardly  broken  by  a  single  hill  or  kopje,  that  can 
surely  have  no  rival  for  monotony  of  scenery  the 
wide  world  over.  Of  running  rivers  we  saw  no 
sign :  of  creeks  there  were  a  few,  but  nearly  all 
were  dry.  The  plain  was  fairly  well  grassed  (the 
rainy  season  had  commenced),  and  widely  clothed 
with  green,  but  destitute  of  shelter  for  stock  and 
unspeakably  desolate,  being  swept  night  and  day 
with  winds  that  sough  and  search  over  the  limit- 
less expanse,  tear  the  soil  from  under  the  very 
roots  of  the  grasses  and  scatter  blinding  clouds 
of  dust  upon  the  world.  Now  and  then,  at  far 
flung  intervals,  we  passed  white  men's  villages, 
and  we  saw  a  white  face  or  two :  but  they  looked 

1 80 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

sadly  out  of  place,  and  only  served  to  emphasise 
the  message  of  the  teeming  Kaffir  kraals — "  South 
"  Africa  belongs  to  the  blacks." 

We  saw  many  herds  of  cattle,  many  flocks  of 
goats.  They  were  all  of  inferior  type,  small,  sun- 
hardened  beasties,  ill-conditioned  and  unkempt. 
The  houses  we  encountered  were  wretched  little 
iron-roofed  hovels — pity  the  sturdy  pioneers  who 
dwell  in  them ! — and  no  hint  or  trace  of  cultiva- 
tion, save  of  mealie  crops  by  native  farmers,  did 
we  meet  with.  A  poor,  ill  watered,  hungry 
country  it  appeared  to  us  :  rich  in  nought  save 
what  stands  involved  within  the  signification  of 
that  blessed  word  "  potentialities."  The  Cana- 
dian Minister,  M.  Lemieux,  voiced  the  opinion 
of  us  all  when  he  said — "  I  wonder  that  any 
"  white  man  can  be  found  to  leave  his  own 
"  country  to  settle  in  such  a  dour,  unlovely 
"wilderness."  Later  on  we  came  to  trees  and 
hills.  But  the  hills  were  bleak  and  bare,  and 
the  trees  thin,  scrubby,  stunted  rubbish,  fit,  per- 
haps, to  burn  and  elsewise  useless.  True  enough, 
as  we  steamed  into  the  heart  of  Africa,  the  trees 
acquired  a  more  imposing  stature,  and  their 
foliage  assumed  many  gaudy  hues,  giving  the 
landscape  an  opulent  autumnal  tone  :  but  they 

181 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

spoke  nearly  always  of  a  hard  struggle  with 
grudging  nature,  and  the  biggest  timber  (the 
biggest  trees  are  pigmies  to  Australian  gums) 
are  dubbed  in  sinister  fashion  "  fever  trees,"  be- 
cause they  grow  where  fever  flourishes.  They 
grow  in  places  that  are  too  many.  Bean  trees  and 
mimosa  thorns  (a  multitude  of  thinly  sprinkled 
shrubs  that  look  like  starved  little  quinces  and 
crab  apples) :  all  the  trees  and  shrubs  planted  far 
apart  as  in  a  park — such  is  the  South  African 
bush. 

The  country  seems  incapable  of  supporting 
more  than  an  apparition  of  vegetable  life.  They 
say  that  it  is  an  ideal  land  for  horses  and  cattle. 
We  saw  no  proof  of  it,  though  we  saw  the  country 
at  its  utmost  best,  and  everywhere  we  heard 
melancholy  tales  of  rinderpest,  East  Coast  fever, 
and  other  dreadful  stock  diseases.  I  would 
rather  have  ten  acres  of  Australian  land  than  ten 
times  as  many  square  miles  of  such  "  ideal  " 
cattle  country.  I  admit  that  on  the  ground  grow 
myriads  of  flaunting  lilies  and  tubers  (some  of 
the  blooms  are  exquisitely  beautiful),  and  orchids, 
too :  but  botanists  are  not  the  best  settlers,  and 
the  farmer  needs  more  than  spiritual  nourish- 
ment, also  his  stock.  Cattle  do  not  thrive  on 

182 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

tiger  lilies,  and  it  is  poor  comfort  to  overlook  a 
wilderness  of  blooms  when  one's  stock  is  famish- 
ing for  homely  grass  or  being  ravaged  by  the 
rinderpest.  And  the  country  is  destitute  of 
game.  Once  it  was  the  home  of  millions  of  deer, 
eland,  springbok,  and  other  fauna.  But  the 
rinderpest  came  and  stamped  the  seal  of  death 
and  desolation  over  all  the  land,  and  now  the 
hunter  must  ride  a  hundred  miles  to  find  a  single 
opportunity  to  use  his  rifle.  For  these  and  other 
reasons  we  reached  the  Falls  station  not  less 
dispirited  than  we  were  dusty.  We  found  a 
scattered  cottage  hotel,  facing  a  splendid  gorge 
that  is  spanned  with  one  of  the  largest  suspension 
bridges  in  the  world,  a  veritable  triumph  of 
engineering  craft — a  single  arch  of  chilled  steel 
flung  600  feet  across  a  chasm  140  yards  deep. 

The  sight  was  encouraging.  We  plucked  up 
our  dashed  energies,  and  without  waiting  for 
dinner,  hurried  to  see  what  Sir  Gilbert  Parker 
called  "The  Eighth  Wonder  of  the  World," 
boasting  his  inability  to  describe  it  in  more 
definitive  terminology.  Ten  minutes  later  we 
halted  of  a  sudden,  stricken  dumb  and  spell- 
bound, on  the  verge  of  a  stupendous  cliff.  Con- 
ceive a  cleft  hacked  by  colossal  forces  out  of  the 

183 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

solid  rock  surface  of  the  table  land,  a  sheer  400 
feet  in  depth,  a  mile  and  a  quarter  long,  500  feet 
across  :  and  .conceive,  tumbling  over  the  entire 
extent  of  one  face  edge  of  this  gigantic  chasm, 
the  massed  waters  of  one  of  the  largest  and 
noblest  rivers  known  to  man.  The  Kaffirs  alone, 
out  of  all  the  people  who  have  been  privileged 
to  see  this  incomparable  marvel,  have  been  in- 
spired with  sufficient  poetry  and  feeling  to  supply 
it  with  a  fittingly  poetic  name.  The  English 
have  styled  it  the  Victoria  Falls.  The  Kaffirs 
call  it  "  Mosi-oa-tunya "  —  The  Smoke  that 
Sounds.  The  waters  dash  in  great  broken 
volumes  into  the  abyss  with  a  tumultuous  roar 
that  can  be  heard  for  fully  sixteen  miles.  The 
"  Great  Fall  "  is  573  yards  broad.  The  "  Leap- 
"  ing  Water  "  is  30  yards  wide.  Rainbow  Fall 
has  a  breadth  of  200  feet.  The  Eastern  Cataract 
measures  600  yards  across  its  foaming  surface. 
These  are  the  principal  cascades :  but  between 
them  gush  an  innumerable  host  of  smaller  founts 
that  foam  and  leap  into  the  void  in  slender  crystal 
threads,  and  whose  waters  fall  athwart  the  lus- 
trous green  and  grey  and  purple  facets  of  the 
cliff  in  shining,  streaming  bandoliers  that  stab 
the  shadows  of  the  chasm  with  a  thousand  needle 

184 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

points  of  frosted  light  before  they  finally  dissolve 
in  multi-colored  mist  clouds.  The  waters  fall  to 
rise  again  in  the  shape  of  inverted  pyramids  of 
spray :  which  often  mount  to  the  dizzy  height  of 
full  3,000  feet — a  welter  of  wondrous  vapor 
clouds  that  overhang  the  valley  night  and  day  in 
in  great  white  palls  and  pillars  of  moving,  drift- 
ing smoke — The  Smoke  that  Sounds. 

As  the  sunlight  strikes  along  the  spray,  a  score 
of  splendid  rainbows  flash  and  form,  and  melt 
and  form  again,  to  fill  the  eye  with  loveliness,  the 
mind  with  dazzled  wonderment.  The  spray,  in- 
deed, is  the  most  marvellous  of  all  the  marvels 
clustered  there.  It  rises  so  gently,  so  slowly, 
yet  so  irresistibly.  As  one  watches  its  ascent,  the 
breathless  thought  says  instant  after  instant, 
"  Now,"  and  the  eye  expects  its  fall.  But  ever 
it  surges  upwards,  upwards,  till  it  melts  into  the 
blue,  and  only  the  iridescent  glamor  of  the  rain- 
bows tell  that  it  is  climbing  still.  The  cliff  edge 
that  confronts  the  falls  is  always  garlanded  with 
thin  resurgent  rain.  For  twice  ten  thousand 
years  (or  as  many  centuries,  may  be)  the  spray 
from  the  massed  cataracts  has  been  falling  over 
all  the  countryside  in  a  steady  drench  of  clear, 
fine,  scintillating  jewelled  rain,  that  has  fostered 

185 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

under  the  tropic  sun  a  growth  as  luxuriant  as  the 
jungles  of  Arabian  dreams.  There  are  trees  too 
large  to  measure  readily,  too  old  to  contemplate 
without  a  sentiment  of  reverence  :  weird,  twisted 
shapes  of  trees  that  gloom  and  glimmer  through 
the  hot,  dank  mist,  and  drip  and  drip  eternally. 
Under  foot  are  streaming  lawns,  rank  with  sodden 
herbage,  star  strewn  with  thousands  of  flame- 
colored  lilies  and  ferns  and  orchids  manifold. 

The  place  is  under  a  perpetual  shade — the 
shadow  of  the  spray.  It  reeks  with  scented 
damp,  and  all  its  glades  and  dells  and  hollows 
are  charged  with  gorgeous  mystery.  It  is  called 
the  Rain  Forest,  but  really  it  is  the  home  and 
nursery  of  the  rainbow,  for  all  the  rainbows  issue 
from  its  splashing  halls,  and  thither  they  return 
when  the  sun  sets  or  the  moon  wanes,  and  "  the 
"  smoke  that  sounds "  fades  out  of  sight  and 
sonorously  sleeps.  One  night  we  saw  a  company 
of  lunar  rainbows  float  across  the  gorge,  and  the 
beauty  of  the  scene  was  such  that  no  one  cared 
or  dared  to  speak,  and  our  homeward  walk  was 
silent.  Men  say  of  the  Niagara  Falls — a  natural 
wonder,  unsurpassably  magnificent  and  grand. 
Contrasted  with  "  The  Smoke  that  Sounds," 
Niagara  is  as  a  cup  of  beauty  thrown  into  a  well. 

1 86 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

Its  volume  of  falling  water  may  be  seasonally 
greater,  but  in  all  else  it  is  smaller  and  less 
awfully  beautiful  than  Mosi-oa-Tunya  :  nor  need 
the  Smoke  that  Sounds  shrink  from  the  compari- 
son of  volume  all  the  year,  for  when  the  Zambesi 
is  at  full,  the  torrent  that  is  poured  into  the  long, 
deep  boiling  pot  of  the  abyss  is  greater  than  the 
greatest  engineers  can  reckon  easily,  and  at  the 
river's  very  lowest,  it  is  capable  of  generating 
power  equivalent,  in  economic  terms,  to  the  mus- 
cular vigor  of  300,00x3  horses.  Already  there  is 
a  talk  of  harnessing  the  Falls  to  human  uses,  and 
a  public  company  has  been  formed  to  carry  elec- 
tric current  from  Victoria  to  Johannesburg  (more 
than  700  miles),  to  light  the  city,  move  the  trams, 
and  run  the  gold  mines  of  the  Rand.  I  rejoice 
to  have  seen  the  Falls  before  these  vandals  of 
commerce  have  commenced  their  work. 

One  morning,  after  an  early  breakfast,  we 
traversed  the  Zambesi  a  short  distance  above  the 
suspension  bridge,  intent  upon  viewing  the  Falls 
from  the  side  of  the  leaping  water.  The  cross- 
ing was  effected  in  a  small  flotilla  of  canoes, 
manned  by  half  a  score  of  ebony  paddlers.  We 
found  the  river  at  this  point  only  in  pools,  yet 
never  really  shallow,  and,  spread  as  it  is,  over  a 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

breadth  of  nearly  i£  mile,  some  faint  notion  can 
be  gleaned  of  the  enormous  body  of  water  that 
it  carries  to  the  cliff.  Our  voyage  had  the  merit 
of  a  thrilling  novelty.  •  When  half  across  stream, 
we  encountered  a  current  ten  times  stronger  than 
the  swift  prevailing  drift.  For  a  few  moments 
the  dusky  oarsmen  struggled  like  Titans  with 
the  flow,  and  made  gallant  headway  too :  but  on 
a  sudden  the  headman  gave  a  cry,  the  canoes 
spun  round  as  on  a  magic  pivot,  and  then  off  we 
flew  like  hawks  upon  the  wing,  down  a  mile  long 
foaming  waste  of  rapids,  towards  the  roaring 
Falls. 

On  each  side  of  the  canoes,  frowning  scarps 
and  crags  of  rock  raised  their  black  heads  every 
moment  hungrily  upon  the  flying  craft.  Our 
lives  hung  vitally  upon  the  steersmen's  nerve. 
One  false  movement,  one  accidental  paddle  dip, 
one  slip  or  unintended  turn  of  wrist,  and  no  human 
power  could  have  saved  us  from  being  swirled 
a  lot  of  helpless  flotsam  down  the  pass,  and  tossed 
at  last  into  the  Boiling  Pot  or  the  Devil's 
Caldron.  But  no  such  accidents  occurred.  The 
dusky  paddlers  plied  their  blades  with  as  much 
stolid  indifference  as  though  they  were  paddling 
in  a  pond,  and  all  the  steersmen  showed  a  skill 

1 88 


so  superbly  perfect  and  unconscious,  that  for  very 
shame  we  concealed  the  excitement  that  con- 
sumed us,  and  endeavoured  to  look  as  though  we 
had  spent  our  youth  shooting  rapids  above  falls 
at  least  1,000  feet  in  depth.  Mr.  Fisher,  of  the 
whole  party,  succeeded  best,  but  then  he  is  a 
Scotsman,  and  his  nerves  are  made  of  flint. 
When  some  50  yards  from  the  face  of  the  cliff, 
the  native  oarsmen  cleverly  manoeuvred  the 
canoes  out  of  the  main  current  into  a  patch  of 
smooth  backwash,  under  the  lee  of  a  little  island. 
Here  we  landed  at  the  same  spot  where  David 
Livingstone  landed  when  he  discovered  the  Falls, 
in  the  year  1855,  and  we  paid  a  visit  of  homage 
to  the  great  tree  whereon  he  carved  the  initials 
of  his  name.  Livingstone  was  only  once  in  his 
life  guilty  of  such  vanity,  as  he  tells  us  in  his 
'  Travels  in  South  Africa " :  he  has  for  his 
apologist  the  grandest  natural  marvel  that  the 
world  contains.  From  the  cliffs  of  Livingstone 
Island,  we  looked  steeply  down  into  the  gorge, 
and  obtained  an  unbroken  view  of  more  than  a 
mile  of  sparkling,  tumbling  water,  falling  sheer 
over  the  knife  edges  of  that  marvellous  basalt 
precipice  into  an  abyss  which  transcends  in 
gloom  and  dark,  majestic  horror  the  wildest 

189 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

dream  of  gloom  and  beauty  that  Dante  ever 
dreamed.  Words  are  utterly  inadequate  to  de- 
pict the  awful  splendour  of  that  spectacle  and  its 
effect  upon  the  mind-.  The  soul  shrivels  while 
one  stands  at  gaze,  and  one's  whole  consciousness 
becomes  oppressed  and  overpowered  with  a  sense 
of  man's  appalling  insignificance  before  forces 
so  immeasurably  impetuous  and  vast.  Here  we 
moved  and  breathed  among  a  welter  of  gaudy 
rainbows.  Every  rock  and  crag  shone  with  a 
living  fire  of  bright  metallic  lights,  golds  and 
lustrous  greens  predominating :  and  the  tortured 
milk  white  spray  rose  before  our  faces  in  immense 
masses  of  vapor,  spouting  to  the  highest  sky  in 
geyser  shoots  of  whipping,  driving  spindrift,  that 
seemed  to  be  stirred  and  separated  and  hurled 
upwards  from  the  boiling  caldron  by  the  furious 
efforts  of  a  multitude  of  unseen  witches. 

Peering  down  into  the  cavern  darkness  of  the 
chasm  we  saw  all  the  waters  of  the  river  collect 
and  concentrate  into  one  mighty  whirlpool  of 
boiling  foam,  thence  dash  with  vertiginous 
rapidity  through  a  single  narrow  gap  and  pour  in 
a  mad  ruthless  torrent  down  the  rapids  of  the 
gorge  into  the  4O-mile  long  canon  of  the  Pass, 
making  billows  in  their  passage  fifty  feet  and 

190 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

more  in  height,  and  flinging  great  jets  of  stinging 
spray  against  the  dark  walls  of  the  steep.  Never 
was  there  a  more  silent  party.  Sometimes  we  ex- 
changed timid,  sympathetic  glances,  but  we  were 
bereft  of  the  capacity  to  speak.  Mr.  Fisher  for- 
got his  politics  :  most  of  us  forgot  the  world.  We 
all  felt  very  small  and  strange  and  weak.  To 
depart  was  a  profound  relief. 


191 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  MATOPPOS  AND  RHODES's  GRAVE 

A  T  about  noon  on  the  i7th  November,  I 
reached  Buluwayo  from  "  the  Falls,"  and 
at  once  transhipped  from  the  train  into 
motor  car,  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  grave  of  the  father 
of  Rhodesia.  This  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most 
interesting  incidents  of  a  long  and  intensely  in- 
teresting journey.  Between  Buluwayo  and  the 
Matoppo  Hills  lies  a  30  mile  tract  of  unusually 
picturesque  and  fertile  veld,  broken  with  tower- 
ing stony  kopjes  and  interspersed  with  many 
steep  banked  spruits  and  flowing  streams.  After 
a  swift  ride  of  an  hour,  I  came  upon  the  late  Cecil 
Rhodes's  famous  irrigation  farm,  a  lovely  oasis 
situated  in  a  deep  hollow  among  the  hills,  where 
several  hundred  acres  have  been  reclaimed  from 

192 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

the  wilderness  and  converted  by  the  uses  of  irri- 
gation into  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  pros- 
perous farms  in  Africa.  Here  a  branch  of  the 
river  has  been  dammed  back  for  a  distance  of 
about  two  miles  by  a  huge  stone  weir — a  fine  bit 
of  engineering  work — and  a  reservoir  has  been 
thus  constructed  providing  more  than  sufficient 
water  at  all  seasons  of  the  year  to  irrigate  1,000 
acres.  The  farm  is  now  occupied  by  an  expert 
irrigationist,  a  tenant  of  the  Rhodes'  estate,  and 
so  kindly  does  the  soil  respond  to  his  efforts  that 
he  is  at  the  same  time  building  up  a  fortune  and 
paying  a  rent  high  enough  to  cover  the  interest 
charges  on  the  works,  and  to  provide  a  large  part 
of  the  maintenance  endowment  on  the  Matoppo 
Park — Rhodes's  last  splendid  gift  to  the  people 
of  Rhodesia. 

Other  objects  of  interest  examined  were  the 
head  kraals  of  the  late  celebrated  paramount 
Kaffir  chief,  Lobengula,  and  the  far-famed 
Indaba  tree,  under  which  that  crafty  old  savage 
slaughtered  remorselessly  some  100  rebel  chief- 
tains whom  he  had  induced  to  meet  him  in  coun- 
cil, by  treacherously  promising  to  consider  and 
redress  their  grievances.  Soon  afterwards  I 
entered  the  private  territory  of  the  Rhodes  estate, 

193 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

and  was  confronted  with  visual  evidence  of  the 
vast  landed  wealth  which  in  his  lifetime  that 
great  Englishman  had  owned.  One  may  stand 
to-day  on  a  certain  kopje  in  the  heart  of  the 
Matoppos,  and  look  around  for  thirty  miles  in  all 
directions,  and  still  not  see  the  bounds  of 
Rhodes's  former  holding.  Every  foot  of  that 
country  once  was  his,  and  his  too  was  all  the 
huge  treasure  of  agricultural  and  mineral  wealth 
that  it  contains.  During  my  whole  stay  in 
Africa,  the  name  of  Rhodes,  lovingly  and  rever- 
ently spoken,  met  me  at  every  turn. 

Almost  every  town  and  city  that  I  visited 
boasts  some  grand  piece  of  sculptured  art  or  other 
striking  public  memorial  to  record  his  genius  and 
his  generosity.  His  works  are  everywhere  in 
evidence,  and  nearly  all  are  imperishable  monu- 
ments. Here  is  a  stretching  province  added  to 
the  possessions  of  the  Empire  :  there  a  great  road 
or  bridge  or  town  or  railway  built  out  of  his 
private  purse  :  there  again  some  public  institution 
magnificently  and  perpetually  endowed  by  him. 
The  man  was  big  in  every  sense  of  the  term.  He 
took  a  world's  view  of  everything.  He  amassed 
stupendous  fortunes.  He  employed  his  wealth 
in  the  immediate  service  of  the  Empire,  in  the 

194 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

ultimate  service  of  humanity.  His  memory  is 
simply  worshipped  by  all  the  British  people  in 
South  Africa.  The  Boers  pay  him  the  compli- 
ment of  an  unbroken  Sphinx-like  silence — they 
owe  it  to  him  that  they  are  Britons  now.  Such  at 
least  is  the  belief.  His  tomb  is  worthy  of  a  man 
whose  life  was  spent  thinking  great  thoughts  and 
putting  into  practice  the  pursuit  and  realisation 
of  magnificent  ideals.  Many  years  ago,  when 
roaming  one  day  with  a  companion  through  the 
Matoppos,  Rhodes  discovered  a  splendid  granite 
tor  that  soared  above  the  neighbouring  crags  and 
kopjes,  that  commanded  a  breathless  panoramic 
view  of  hill  and  veld  in  all  directions,  and  whose 
smooth,  rounded,  weather-worn  summit  was 
topped  with  four  great  oval  granite  boulders, 
separated  each  from  the  other  by  some  little 
space,  and  strangely  pointing  north,  south,  east 
and  west,  like  the  barred  ends  of  a  four  square 
needle  magnet  made  of  stone. 

Climbing  to  the  crest  of  this  wonderful  peak, 
Rhodes  turned  from  a  long  unhurried  contempla- 
tion of  the  landscape,  to  his  friend.  "  I  shall  be 
"  buried  here,"  he  said.  His  grave  rests  in  the 
central  space  between  the  compass  boulders. 
The  tomb  has  been  hollowed  from  the  solid 

195 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

stone  :  its  lowly  surface  is  almost  level  with  the 
granite  surface  of  the  mound.  No  headstone 
marks  the  spot,  nought  but  a  recumbent  sheet  of 
bronze,  embedded  athwart  the  rock,  and  inscribed 
with  these  simple  words — "  Here  lie  the  remains 
"  of  Cecil  John  Rhodes." 

This  is  a  world  of  diverse  views  and  con- 
trary opinions.  To  one  of  my  companions 
the  sight  of  Rhodes's  grave  brought  cynical 
reflections,  and  evoked  from  him  this  rather 
mordant  comment,  "  The  vanity  of  the  man ! " 
Others  of  the  party  were  almost  painfully 
affected  with  the  simplicity,  the  majesty  and  the 
solitary  aloofness  of  spirit  which  seemed  to  have 
inspired  the  conception  of  such  a  grave.  I  re- 
membered that  it  had  been  Rhodes's  custom  for 
years  before  his  end,  whenever  he  was  worried  by 
the  sordid  little  things  of  life,  or  whenever  he 
wished  to  be  alone  to  give  freer  scope  to  the  work- 
ings of  his  imperial  mind,  to  retire  unattended  to 
the  witching  and  mysterious  solitude  of  the  hill 
where  now  he  lies  in  death.  On  that  lonely  rock 
he  planned  the  conquest  and  acquisition  of  a  ter- 
ritory nearly  450,000  square  miles  in  extent.  On 
that  spot  he  formulated  schemes  and  policies 
whose  fruition  subsequently  shook  the  world. 

196 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

On  that  spot  he  dreamed  dreams  as  vast  and 
romantic  as  ever  fired  the  imagination  of  a 
Caesar  or  an  Alexander,  and  there  at  last  he  made 
his  will  which  gave  parks  to  the  people,  provinces 
to  the  nation,  and  perpetual  education  bequests 
to  the  whole  British  speaking  race. 

None  other  than  Rhodes  should  sleep  on  the 
World's  View  Hill.  None  other  ever  shall, 
although  he  gave  it  as  a  cemetery  to  South  Africa, 
and  he  did  not  declare  any  wish  to  sleep  alone. 
Happily,  the  people  have  decided  that  question 
for  good  and  all,  and  have  thus  proved  beyond 
dispute  their  veneration  of  his  greatness.  It  is, 
I  think,  the  most  remotely  silent  place  that  I  have 
ever  visited,  the  most  seriously  thought-inspiring, 
the  most  sombre,  forbidding  and  desolately 
grand.  While  one  stands  gazing  at  the  tomb, 
scores  of  lizards,  blue,  green  and  grey,  crawl  from 
the  crevices  among  the  rocks,  and  steal  like 
brilliant  phantom  streaks  across  the  tor.  They 
are  almost  fearless  of  intruders,  but  they  make 
no  sound.  Sometimes  the  distant  shrilling  of 
cicadae  wounds  the  stillness  with  a  faint  yet 
piercing  dagger-thrust  of  song.  But  soon  and 
always  the  eternal  hush  returns,  and  silence  reigns 
supreme  again.  What  must  this  place  of  isolated 

197 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

gloom  be  like  at  night,  when  in  the  tropic  noon- 
tide blaze  it  spreads  a  pall  of  gentle  horror  on 
the  sensibilities — at  night,  when  the  lions  that 
teem  among  these  pathless  hills,  roam  abroad  in 
search  of  prey,  and  bend  their  prowling  steps, 
perhaps,  across  the  simple,  moveless  tomb  of  the 
maker  of  a  nation  ?  Involuntarily,  a  quatrain  of 
Omar,  the  Persian,  swims  into  recollection — 

"  They  say  the  lion  and  the  lizard  keep 
The  court  where  Jamsheyd  gloried  and  drank  deep. 
And  Balaam,  that  great  hunter — the  wild  ass 
Stamps  o'er  his  head,  yet  cannot  break  his  sleep." 

Certainly  the  lion  and  the  lizard  keep  nightly 
watch  by  Cecil  Rhodes's  grave.  The  world  is 
full  of  great  tombs,  great  and  awe-inspiring  :  but 
there  is  neither  pyramid,  nor  tomb,  nor  monu- 
ment in  all  the  world  which  can  equal  that  of 
Rhodes's  sleeping  place  in  simplicity  and 
majesty.  I  think  its  grandeur  somewhat  over- 
tops the  bigness  of  the  man  who  chose  it  for  his 
final  home.  But  if  he  showed  vanity  in  his  selec- 
tion, he  showed  courage  too,  and  one  must  re- 
member that  he  owned  the  Hill. 


198 


CHAPTER  XV 

AFRIKANDER  LITERATURE  AND  LITERACY 

f\P  all  the  dominions  of  the  British  Empire, 
South  Africa  has  had  the  most  varied  and 
romantic  history.  From  north  to  south, 
from  east  to  west,  the  country  is  dotted  with 
monuments  to  commemorate  battles,  treaties  and 
other  critical  events.  Not  once,  but  many  times, 
the  land  has  been  drenched  in  blood.  For  more 
than  three  centuries  various  races  have  been  con- 
tending at  intervals  for  its  possession,  and  the 
limitless  veld  is  strewn  with  a  myriad  graves,  each 
marked  with  a  little  white  cross  or  headstone,  each 
containing  the  dust  of  a  brave  man  slain  with  his 
rifle  in  his  hand  fighting  for  a  cause.  South 
Africa,  moreover,  is  a  land  of  extraordinary 
scenic  splendor,  of  fascination  and  of  mystery. 

199 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

In  no  other  part  of  the  world  are  there  to  be 
found  vaster  stretches  of  high  tableland  so 
weirdly  broken  and  relieved  with  strange  shaped 
hills,  deep  gorges  and  dongas,  and  dark  inacces- 
sible ravines.  There  are  taller  mountains  else- 
where, but  none  more  bold  and  starkly  menacing 
in  form :  none  that  fling  out  such  endless  succes- 
sions of  jagged,  frowning  spurs :  none  that  offer 
a  more  powerful  appeal  to  the  imagination. 

The  most  experienced  traveller  meets  startling 
surprises  in  South  Africa  at  every  turn.  The 
country  has  been  built  on  a  fashion  peculiar  to  it- 
self. The  veld  is  without  a  foreign  prototype. 
It  resembles  nothing  so  much  as  the  flat  roof  of 
a  mighty  battlemented  Gothic  castle  pushed 
sheer  upward  into  the  blue  on  tier  on  tier  of  pre- 
cipitous Cyclopean  rocks,  and  supported  and  de- 
fended from  the  lower  world  by  a  multitude  of 
giant  flying  buttresses — each  rock  a  straight  and 
lofty  mountain,  each  buttress  a  naked  mountain 
spur  incomparably  bleak,  magnificent  and  stern. 
The  air  has  a  quality  of  clarity  that  makes  even 
the  limpid  brightness  of  the  Australian  atmos- 
phere seem  like  mist.  The  sunsets  surpass  in 
gorgeousness  and  brazen  glory  the  sunsets  of  all 
other  lands :  and  the  vivid  coloring  of  the 

200 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  bush,"  the  dour  scarlet  starred  monotone  of  the 
veld,  are  facts  and  contrasts  that  strike  like  shafts 
of  fire  into  the  fancy.  Inexorably  the  thought 
arises  in  the  traveller's  mind,  "  Here  is  a  country 
"  to  compel  into  existence  an  original  and  peer- 
"  less  literature,  to  breed  a  race  of  poets,  with  a 
"  brand  new  message  for  mankind."  He  merely 
prepares  for  himself  another  astonishment. 

This  wonderful  land  is  practically  destitute  of 
an  indigenous  literature  :  it  has  almost  absolutely 
failed  to  inspire  its  own  children.  Olive 
Schreiner  has  written  "  The  Story  of  a  South 
"  African  Farm."  Sir  Percy  Fitzgerald  has 
written  "  Jock  of  the  Bushveld."  The  prose 
achievements  of  South  Africa  that  are  worthy  of 
note  very  nearly  begin  and  end  with  those  two 
books.  The  country  is  equally  tongue-tied  in 
poetry.  One  hears  of  a  few  English  versifiers, 
and  reads  their  songs  only  to  be  sharply  dis- 
appointed. The  Dutch  Afrikanders  have  no 
prose  literature  deserving  of  the  name  at  all,  and 
but  one  singer,  Mr.  Jan  Celliers,  has  ever  reached 
a  reputation.  The  Taal  has  no  grammar.  It  is 
a  wretched  patois,  merely  the  slang  of  half  a 
dozen  languages  jumbled  together.  That  Mr. 
Jan  Celliers  is  acclaimed  a  poet  at  all,  confining 

201 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

himself  to  such  a  medium,  is  remarkable :  yet 
even  his  warmest  admirers  admit  that  his  voice  is 
"  still  and  soft,"  and  his  range  narrow. 

The  lamentable  failure  of  the  Dutch  to  give 
adequate  literary  expression  to  the  spirit  of  their 
country  after  so  many  centuries  and  generations 
of  possession,  seems  to  proclaim  them  mentally 
a  dull  and  torpid  race.  They  have  no  folk  songs, 
no  sagas.  The  brave  deeds  of  their  forefathers, 
their  own  stirring  achievements  by  forest,  flood 
and  field,  have  left  them  tuneless  and  tongue- 
tied.  They  sing  no  heroes,  though  their  heroes 
number  in  scores  :  they  utterly  neglect  their  dead. 
The  Zulus  are  of  a  more  melodious  and  sprightly 
turn  of  mind.  The  Zulus  have  a  multitude  of 
songs,  stories  and  traditions.  Almost  every  war- 
rior is  also  a  minstrel,  and  his  mind  teems  with 
sweet  and  splendid  memories,  which  burst  forth  in 
a  sonorous  and  melodious  recital  whenever  he  is 
strongly  moved.  When  the  typical  Boer  is 
moved  he  is  even  more  incapable  of  song  than 
when  he  is  still.  He  is  first  and  last  a  man  of 
vigorous  action  and  profound  repose.  When  the 
call  for  action  comes,  his  brain  operates  briskly 
enough,  and  he  displays  an  astonishing  ingenuity 
and  fertility  of  resource,  but  always  on  the  physi- 

202 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

cal  plane.  When  the  need  of  action  passes,  he 
sinks  cheerfully  into  a  condition  of  ox-like  sloth. 
He  looks  upon  all  forms  of  effort  not  directed 
towards  the  clothing  of  his  body  and  the  filling 
of  his  belly,  as  wasteful  and  contemptible.  He 
lives  to  eat  and  drink,  and  to  procreate  his 
species :  and  he  is  the  most  indolent  man  on 
earth.  Many  of  his  finest  deeds  have  been  in- 
spired by  his  incurable  natural  laziness. 

It  has  been  of  late  the  fashion  to  attribute  the 
"  great  trek "  and  the  subsequent  Boer  dis- 
covery, seizure  and  occupation  of  the  Transvaal, 
wholly  to  the  Dutchman's  admirable  independ- 
ence of  character,  and  his  magnificent  love  of 
liberty.  Nothing  could  be  more  absurd.  The 
Boer,  in  all  likelihood,  would  never  have  trekked 
from  Cape  Colony  if  it  had  not  been  for  the 
abolition  of  slavery.  The  Emancipation  of  1834 
threw  the  industrial  motive  power  of  the  country 
out  of  gear.  The  Boer  had  up  to  that  date  never 
done  a  stroke  of  work  which  he  could  avoid.  His 
slaves  did  everything.  Deprived  of  his  slaves, 
he  awoke  from  his  lethargy  and,  scared  in  his  in- 
most being  at  the  horrid  thought  of  work,  he  be- 
came a  hero,  and  trekked  into  the  unknown  wild 
beyond  the  Vaal — not  half  so  much  in  order  to 

203 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

escape  British  rule  as  to  discover  lands  where  he 
might  resume  his  old  indolent  habits,  and  live 
idly  on  the  proceeds  of  forced  Kaffir  labor. 
Slavery  in  name  no  longer  exists,  of  course,  but 
slavery  in  deed  continues  on  the  veld,  and  the 
back  veld  farmer  boasts  that  he  can  manage  the 
"  m£ger  "  perfectly,  if  let  alone.  And  indeed  he 
does — with  the  rifle  and  the  sjambok. 

Take  any  Boer  farmer,  however  poor,  and 
examine  his  hands.  They  are  soft  as  any 
woman's :  and,  if  washed,  quite  as  white. 
Examine  his  mind.  If  literate,  he  will  confess 
having  read  one  book — the  Bible — or,  rather,  a 
part  of  it — the  Old  Testament.  But  one  in  every 
five  Boers  can  neither  read  nor  write.  Educa- 
tion is  now  compulsory  in  the  Transvaal :  it  has 
never  been  compulsory  elsewhere  in  South 
Africa,  and  is  not  yet.  In  consequence,  ignor- 
ance, illiteracy  and  dulness  pervade  the  land. 
The  penultimate  census  (taken  in  1904)  showed 
434,000  literate  whites  of  all  ages  in  the  Cape  and 
134,000  who  could  not  tell  one  letter  of  the  alpha- 
bet from  another — this  in  the  most  populous,  cul- 
tured and  progressive  province  of  the  Union. 
In  the  light  of  this  discreditable  fact,  one's  wonder 
at  the  dearth  of  an  indigenous  South  African 

204 


literature  diminishes,  and  one  gains  a  clearer 
understanding  why  both  the  British  and  the  better 
educated  Dutch  attach  so  tremendous  an  import- 
ance to  the  language  and  education  problem 
which  is  at  this  moment  still  unsettled  (December 
14,  1912),  and  is  still  engrossing  the  attention  of 
all  classes  of  the  body  politic. 


205 


CHAPTER  XVI 

MUNICIPAL  ENTERPRISE 

A  LMOST  every  town  of  note  in  South  Africa 
supports  the  burden  of  an  immense  public 
debt.  Here  are  a  few  instances — 

White  Debt 

Town.  Population.       Debt.    Per  head. 

£          £ 

Port  Elizabeth  -     21,277  766,032         36 

Pretoria  -     21,000         1,000,000        47 

Durban  -     30,000        2,540,000        84 

Capetown  -     60,000         2,926,950        48 

Bloemfontein     -     12,000  972,977         81 

Pietermaritzberg     11,000         1,000,000         62 
East  London     -     13,000  380,000        29 

When  one  learns  that  in  nearly  every  instance 
there  are  no  ratepayers  amongst  the  colored 
population,  and  the  whites  have  to  carry  the  entire 

206 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

burden  unassisted,  the  wonder  arises  that  these 
towns  have  steered  clear  of  the  insolvency  court. 
Yet  although  the  average  rate  is  fairly  high — it 
amounts  to  about  2^d.  in  the  pound  of  capital 
valuation — no  complaints  are  heard,  the  towns 
are  all  paying  their  way,  and  many  of  them  pos- 
sess large  sinking  funds,  and  have  begun  to  re- 
deem their  debts.  How  do  they  do  it?  The 
answer  is  simple — they  are  more  fortunately 
situated  than  appears,  and  manage  their  affairs 
on  up-to-date  lines.  Almost  every  municipality 
in  the  Union  is  a  great  trading  corporation,  own- 
ing and  controlling  most  of  the  public  utilities  in 
its  domain.  In  no  other  British  speaking  country 
has  municipal  socialism  been  carried  to  such 
lengths.  With  few  exceptions,  the  South  African 
municipalities  own  and  manage  the  tramways, 
lighting,  water  supply,  drainage  and  sewerage, 
food,  produce  and  live  stock  markets,  baths,  abat- 
toirs, laundries,  wash  houses,  cemeteries,  parks, 
libraries,  museums  and  amusements  of  the  towns  : 
and  some  have  their  own  bakeries  and  telephones. 
In  each  of  these  trades  the  municipal  authorities 
enjoy  monopolistic  privileges,  and  permit  no 
competition.  The  enterprises  in  their  control 
are,  generally  speaking,  conducted  by  highly 

207 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

qualified  and  highly  paid  experts,  and  managed 
according  to  the  soundest  economic  principles. 
Most  of  them  return  handsome  yearly  profits. 

To  cite  Durban  as  an  illustration,  the  trading 
concerns  of  the  town  have  yielded  during  several 
years  past  a  net  trade  profit  exceeding  £  90,000 
— a  sum  which,  if  capitalised  at  4  per  cent.,  would 
almost  liquidate  the  entire  public  debt.  Pre- 
toria's total  annual  revenue  is  ,£190,000.  Of 
that  amount  only  ^48,000  is  raised  by  rates — 
the  bulk  of  the  balance  comes  from  the  municipal 
trading  enterprises  of  the  city.  Capetown  has 
an  annual  revenue  from  all  sources  of  some 
,£536,000:  the  rates  merely  account  for 
,£151,000.  Johannesburg's  annual  income  is 
approximately  .£709,000,  and  no  more  than  half 
that  sum  comes  from  the  rates — the  balance 
represents  trading  profits  and  the  proceeds  of 
municipal  land  rents. 

The  financial  position  of  the  South  African 
municipalities  is  further  fortified  by  the  fact  that 
they  nearly  all  own  extensive  areas  of  town  land. 
These  areas — commonages  they  are  called — 
usually  lie  immediately  beyond  and  surrounding 
the  range  of  habitation.  Some  municipalities 
measure  their  commonages  by  hundreds,  others 

208 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

by  thousands  of  acres.  The  methods  of  dealing 
with  such  lands  vary  in  instances,  but  are  gener- 
ally similar.  Part  is  fenced  and  leased  to 
individual  citizens :  the  balance  is  held  open  and 
unfenced  as  a  common  pasture  for  the  use  of  the 
ratepayers,  each  ratepayer  having  the  right  to 
graze  thereon  a  certain  number  of  live  stock. 
Such  rights,  however,  are  in  no  sense  permanent, 
for  the  municipality  is  empowered,  whenever  it 
chooses,  to  sell  the  freehold  of  any  portion  of 
the  commonage  lands.  As  the  towns  increase  in 
population,  commonage  sales  continually  take 
place,  and  the  towns  increase  in  size  at  the  ex- 
pense of  a  corresponding  shrinkage  in  the 
municipal  commonage  area.  Wisely  governed 
towns  apply  the  proceeds  of  their  land  sales  to 
the  reduction  of  their  public  debts,  but  there  are 
a  few  which  treat  the  money  as  ordinary  revenue, 
and  their  charters  are  so  loosely  framed  that  there 
is  no  means  of  stopping  the  stupid  practice  of 
thus  eating  up  their  capital. 

Perhaps  the  most  noteworthy  feature  of  South 
African  municipal  enterprise  consists  in  the  pre- 
dilection everywhere  exhibited  for  the  exploita- 
tion of  advanced  ideas.  All  the  municipalities 
are  keenly  progressive,  and  they  vie  with  each 

209 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

other  in  improving  and  beautifying  the  towns. 
They  have  no  use  for  antique  services.  They 
are  constantly  striving,  not  merely  to  keep 
abreast  with,  but  to  get  ahead  of  the  times.  Thus 
gas  is  almost  unknown  in  South  Africa.  Nearly 
every  large  town  is  lighted  exclusively  with  elec- 
tricity, and  the  tramways  have  electricity  for  their 
motive  power.  The  municipal  tram  are  exceed- 
ingly comfortable  and  convenient,  and  they  are 
all  run  in  sections.  The  sectional  fares  are 
usually  3d.  The  fares  seem  dear  to  the  casual 
visitor,  but  one  has  to  remember  that  they  reflect 
the  condition  of  high  priced  living  which  obtains 
universally  in  a  country  which  has  whole 
provinces  wherein  copper  currency  is  almost 
non-existent,  and  wherein  the  "  tickie,"  or  three- 
penny bit  is  the  lowest  coin  in  circulation.  The 
rates  charged  by  the  municipalities  for  lighting 
range  from  6d.  to  I/-  per  unit,  and  for  power 
from  id.  to  5d.  per  unit.  What  little  manufac- 
turing is  done  in  South  Africa  is  effected  with 
the  aid  of  electric  power.  The  charges  for  light- 
ing and  power  are  high,  but  so  are  the  charges 
for  everything  else  in  the  sub-continent,  and  that 
the  rates  in  question  are  not  popularly  regarded 
as  excessive  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  there  is  an 

210 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

entire  absence  of  any  agitation  for  their  reduc- 
tion. 

On  the  whole,  the  South  African  municipalities 
may  truthfully  claim  to  manage  their  affairs  in  a 
fashion  that  compares  favorably  with  any  other 
land,  and  which  demonstrates  a  high  capacity  for 
municipal  government.  Most  of  the  big  towns 
are  well  built,  splendidly  lighted,  well  drained 
and  sewered,  and  handsomely  equipped  with 
public  parks,  gardens,  libraries,  baths,  museums, 
and  transit  facilities.  The  experiment  of  collec- 
tive ownership  and  control  of  civic  utilities, 
wherever  it  has  been  tried,  has  proved  such  a 
convincing  economic  success  that  municipal 
Socialism  is  now  a  fixed  national  establishment, 
and  the  whole  bearing  of  public  opinion  is 
towards  its  indefinite  expansion.  The  municipal 
bakery  is  one  of  the  latest  expressions  of  the 
economic  trend  of  thought  of  this  essentially 
aristocratic  community.  One  town  not  long  ago 
made  the  essay,  and  with  such  encouraging  re- 
sults, that  several  others  are  preparing  now  to 
follow  suit.  Already  a  municipal  dairy  has  been 
mooted  as  the  next  step  to  be  taken,  and  authori- 
tative advocates  of  the  municipalisation  of  all  the 
agencies  of  food  production  and  distribution  are 
to  be  found  in  every  centre  of  population. 

211 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

The  Australian  Labor  party  might  advan- 
tageously ponder  these  South  African  develop- 
ments. The  average  Australian  Laborite  de- 
ludes himself  of  custom  with  the  flattering  notion 
that  to  Labor  exclusively  belongs  all  the  credit 
of  the  various  movements  towards  economy  in 
government  and  social  betterment,  through  col- 
lective effort  which  have  taken  place  during  the 
last  half  century.  South  Africa  is  a  standing 
proof  to  the  contrary.  That  country  has  never 
yet  had  any  room  for  a  Labor  party.  It  is 
governed  by  wealth.  Its  ideals  are  pertinaciously 
aristocratic,  and  the  masses  of  the  people  are 
bigoted  Tories.  The  people,  however,  although 
Conservative  in  most  directions,  almost  beyond 
relief,  are  as  sensitive  to  the  demands  of  their 
pockets  as  the  keenest  Radicals  alive.  When 
their  public  utilities  were  managed  by  private 
enterprise,  they  found  themselves  so  ruthlessly 
exploited  that,  in  despair,  they  sanctioned  the  ex- 
periment of  municipal  control.  It  turned  out  so 
well  that  the  whole  community  was  speedily  con- 
verted to  the  new  idea,  and  thus  the  world  has 
been  afforded  the  anomalous  and  amusing 
spectacle  of  a  purely  capitalistic  State  outdistanc- 
ing in  Socialism  the  Socialists  themselves. 

212 


CHAPTER  XVII 

SOCIAL   NOTES 

HT^HE  Spanish  people  have  a  saying  which  is 
very  widely  believed  (justly  or  unjustly)  to 
express  one  of  their  least  admirable 
national  characteristics.  "  Manana,"  is  the  word. 
It  typifies  the  Latin  spirit  of  procrastination. 
The  people  of  South  Africa  continually  use  a 
phrase  of  not  dissimilar  significance.  "  Wacht- 
"  een-beetje  "  is  ever  on  their  lips.  They  pro- 
nounce it  "  vok-kun-beachy."  It  is  taken  from 
the  Taal  and  means  "  Wait  a  bit."  There  is  a 
queer  little  native  bird  which  ranges  over  the  veld 
of  Transvaal  and  Natal  and  has  the  queerest 
flight  in  the  world.  It  rejoices  in  a  very  long  and 
most  pretentious  tail.  This  bird  flies  leisurely 
for  a  few  yards,  then  rests  upon  its  outspread 

213 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

wings,  and  sinks  slowly  towards  the  ground  :  but 
just  when  its  fall  to  earth  would  appear  inevit- 
able, it  flutters  its  wings  and  mounts  once  more 
into  the  blue,  only  to  repeat  the  manoeuvre  of 
resting  and  sinking.  Its  progress  is  a  series  of 
indolent  flops,  and  to  watch  its  flight  is  to  be  im- 
pressed with  the  idea  that  the  bird  is  the  very 
laziest  of  all  the  feathered  species  known  to  man. 
The  Boers  call  it  the  Wacht-een-beetje  bird. 
The  pretty  little  creature  ought  to  be  a  part  and 
parcel  of  the  Afrikanders'  coat  of  arms. 
Wacht-een-beetje  is  the  spirit  of  South  Africa. 
It  pervades  the  continent.  It  permeates  the 
atmosphere.  It  is  the  protest  of  the  soil  against 
the  husbandmen.  It  is  the  protest  of  the  sun 
against  exertion.  '  We  have  always  to-morrow," 
is  the  national  proverb  of  the  Boers.  But  climate 
is  not  more  than  partially  accountable  for  the 
somnolent  and  easy-going  manners  of  the  white 
Afrikander.  The  root  cause  is  closely  associated 
with  the  omnipresent  servile  Kaffir.  The  negro 
is  naturally  lazy,  but  there  are  so  many  of  him 
that  even  though  he  idles  nine-tenths  of  his  day, 
he  is  able  to  do  all  the  work  of  the  white  race  with 
a  margin  to  spare.  The  white  man  need  not  work 
at  all  except  as  an  overseer,  and,  to  do  him  bare 

214 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

justice,  he  rarely  does.  He  lives  like  the  lotus 
eater  of  the  legend.  All  his  days  are  trances. 
He  dreams  and  dreams.  The  rising  generation 
deserves  the  pity  of  mankind.  It  is  being  brought 
up  cradled  in  a  luxury  that  physically  debilitates 
and  morally  corrodes.  The  white  child  in  its 
swaddling  clothes  is  taught  to  lean  upon  the 
Kaffir  and  disdain  his  post.  As  soon  as  a  babe  is 
born  to  a  white  family,  a  negro  boy  or  girl  is  pro- 
cured to  be  the  infant's  special  playmate,  servant 
and  slave.  The  pair  grow  up  together.  The 
white  child  is  the  king,  the  black  is  the  white 
child's  serf  and  vassal.  Most  white  children  born 
in  South  Africa  acquire  incurable  habits  of  pride 
and  indolence  before  they  reach  their  teens.  It 
is  a  common  thing  to  see  young  boys  and  slips  of 
girls  treating  the  natives  like  dogs.  By  turns 
they  are  brutal  and  affectionate  to  their  black 
attendants.  Their  manners  are  haughty  and  over- 
bearing. They  hold  themselves  like  princes  and 
princesses  of  the  old-time  feudal  world.  During 
my  visit  to  Bulawayo  I  was  the  guest  of  an 
Australian  lady  who  had  married  an  Afrikander 
Englishman.  One  morning  she  took  me  for  a 
drive,  promising  mysteriously  to  show  me  a  sight 
that  would  convince  me  at  one  blow  of  the  impas- 

215 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

sable  chasm  which  separates  Africa  from  the 
democratic  dominions  of  the  Empire.  She  drove 
me  into  the  town,  and  presently  drew  up  opposite 
the  gates  of  a  building  that  was  obviously  a  public 
school.  I  plied  her  with  questions,  but  she  would 
not  be  drawn.  I  must  wait  and  discover  the 
phenomenon  for  myself.  The  hour  was  early, 
but  very  soon  the  school  bell  began  a-ringing 
lazily.  The  summons  did  not  lack  response. 
Within  a  few  moments,  numbers  of  neatly  dressed 
white  children  came  trickling  from  all  directions 
towards  the  gates.  Behind  each  child  stalked  a 
burly  Kaffir,  carrying  the  urchin's  books  and 
luncheon  bag ! 

The  first  day  I  landed  in  South  Africa  I  wit- 
nessed a  small  incident  that  will  tell  its  own 
story.  Strolling  through  the  city  of  Durban  in 
the  early  morning,  I  saw  a  great  hulking  Kaffir 
carry  a  bundle  of  papers  to  the  door  of  a  news 
agency,  where  a  little  white  boy,  about  10  years 
of  age,  was  waiting  to  receive  them.  The  Kaffir 
very  respectfully  placed  the  bundle  on  the  steps 
at  the  child's  feet,  and  moved  away.  He  was 
immediately  recalled,  and  most  imperiously. 
"  You  cheeky  devil,"  shrilled  the  child.  "  How 
"  dare  you  leave  the  papers  there.  Take  the 

216 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  bundle  into  the  shop  at  once,  and  untie  it." 
The  Kaffir  silently  and  humbly  obeyed. 

"  Now  sort  the  papers,"  ordered  the  child. 

Again  the  Kaffir  obeyed.  When  his  task  was 
completed,  the  little  boy  contemptuously  pointed 
to  the  door.  "  Get  out !  "  he  said. 

The  Kaffir  inclined  reverently,  and  backed  out 
of  the  shop,  as  though  taking  leave  of  royalty. 
The  child  did  not  even  smile.  The  sneer  on  his 
face  was  fixed. 

Mr.  Fisher,  the  Prime  Minister  of  Australia, 
paid  a  visit  to  an  old  Scottish  "  towney  "  who  had 
settled  down  in  Kimberley.  His  friend  had  a 
garden,  of  which  he  was  extremely  proud.  He 
took  Mr.  Fisher  to  see  it,  and  while  the  pair 
strolled  along  one  of  the  paths  they  observed  a 
broken  border  that  seemed  to  call  for  prompt 
attention.  The  Afrikander  said  to  his  son — a 
youngster,  who  stood  near — "  Jack,  my  lad,  fetch 
"  me  a  spade,  will  you  ?  "  The  lad  turned  slowly 
on  his  heel  and  shouted  insolently  to  a  distant 
Kaffir,  "  Boy,  fetch  the  boss  a  spade !  " 

Mr.  Fisher  glanced  at  his  friend  inquiringly. 
The  Afrikander  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "  It  is 
"  not  Jack's  fault,"  he  murmured  apologetically. 
"  I  would  be  wrong  to  reprove  him.  It  is  the 
"  universal  custom  of  the  country." 

217 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

The  white  must  do  no  work.  It  is  an  iron 
social  law.  It  is  a  law  that  means  ultimate 
advancement  to  the  Kaffirs,  but  that  bodes  de- 
generation to  the  whites,  and,  if  not  subverted, 
crass  industrial  inefficiency.  Already  the  white 
Afrikander  has  lost  all  sense  of  the  dignity  of 
labor.  Manual  effort  of  any  sort  is  a  horrible 
thing,  a  disgusting,  almost  a  nauseating  thing. 
It  is  for  the  native  to  do.  It  is  "  Kaffir's  work." 
The  English  language  faints,  exhausted  in  its 
powers  of  expressing  infamy,  when  that  phrase 
is  uttered,  "  Kaffir's  work." 

The  white  people  of  South  Africa  are  hospit- 
able to  a  degree  that  very  nearly  exceeds  the 
bounds  of  common  sense.  The  Boers  make  hos- 
pitality a  part  of  their  religion.  On  the  veld 
every  white  traveller  is  welcomed  to  the  farmer's 
homestead  as  though  he  were  a  dear  and  long  lost 
friend.  He  may  stay  as  long  as  he  pleases.  He 
is  the  "  nephew  "  of  the  host :  and  the  Boer  is 
his  "  uncle,"  the  Boer's  wife  his  "  aunt."  In  the 
cities  and  towns  some  distinction  in  the  visitor  is 
demanded,  but  the  claim  once  made  good,  the 
Afrikander's  hospitality  is  limited  only  by  his 
bank  account.  The  gold  and  diamond  magnates 
set  the  pace.  In  Kimberley,  the  principal  hotel 

218 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

is  owned  by  the  De  Beers  Company.  It  is  main- 
tained on  a  scale  of  lavish  magnificence  that  has 
not  even  a  nodding  acquaintanceship  with  divi- 
dends. The  hotel,  in  fact,  is  kept  but  for  one 
purpose,  to  entertain  the  friends  of  the  Company 
who  visit  Kimberley  from  overseas.  No  sooner 
does  any  foreign  visitor  arrive  in  South  Africa 
than  he  is  handed  a  telegram  which  invites  him 
to  Kimberley  as  the  Company's  honored  guest. 
In  Johannesburg,  the  Rand  lords  entertain  the 
elect  like  princes.  When  preparing  a  dinner 
party  they  fix  the  menu  and  cable  it  to  London, 
whence  the  feast  is  transferred  bodily  by  steam- 
ship and  train  to  be  eaten  on  the  Rand. 

In  almost  all  the  large  population  centres  of 
South  Africa,  the  "  rational  Sunday  "  is  the  rule. 
In  Pietersburg,  the  headquarters  of  the  Calvinis- 
tic  Dutch,  and  a  few  other  purely  Boer  towns, 
Sunday  is  the  "  Sabbath,"  and  a  day  of  sour  and 
Puritanical  gloom.  But  in  Johannesburg  and 
elsewhere,  Sunday  is  the  day  of  rational  amuse- 
ment, rest,  and  recreation.  Business  stops,  but 
every  other  form  of  active  life  proceeds. 
Cricket  and  football  matches  are  played  in  all 
the  public  pleasure  grounds,  which  thousands  of 
spectators  pay  to  see  :  the  volunteers  and  militia 

219 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

drill  and  manoeuvre  in  the  halls  and  on  the  parade 
reserves,  and  the  whole  populace  gives  itself  up 
to  open  air  enjoyment,  sight  seeing  and  sport. 
Yet  the  churches  are  filled  and  the  Sunday 
Schools  well  attended. 

The  social  life  of  the  people  is  wonderfully 
free  and  easy.  Women  are  everywhere  largely 
outnumbered  by  men.  The  proportions  of  the 
sexes  throughout  the  Union  are,  broadly  speak- 
ing, as  100  men  to  86  women.  Women,  there- 
fore, occupy  a  position  of  exceptional  advantage. 
They  are  courted  and  sought  after  as  in  no  other 
country  in  the  world.  They  are  wanted  every- 
where as  wives.  There  are  no  female  white 
domestic  servants  in  South  Africa.  All  house 
work  is  done  by  natives :  and  few  white  house 
wives  are  so  poor  (even  the  wives  of  artisans) 
that  they  do  not  keep  two  or  more  black 
servants.  The  daily  life  of  the  average  Afri- 
kander women  is  a  dream  of  indolence  and  effort- 
less repose.  They  seldom  need  to  lift  a  finger 
for  themselves.  The  native  saves  them  from  all 
the  severer  and  meaner  forms  of  exertion,  and 
the  diligent  attention  of  their  husbands  is  secured 
by  the  fact  that  thousands  of  mateless  bachelors 
roam  abroad  seeking  whom  they  may  devour. 

220 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

Large  families  are  rare  except  among  the 
Boers.  The  Afrikander  woman  of  British  origin 
customarily  shirks  the  duties  of  maternity.  She 
prefers  to  be  a  butterfly,  and  her  circumstances 
are  such  that  she  is  able  to  be  a  law  unto  herself. 
Women  of  the  upper  classes  are  usually  fairly 
well  educated.  They  read  vast  quantities  of 
novels.  Literature,  indeed,  is  their  only  resource 
for  most  of  their  day  against  the  demons  of  ennui. 
They  must  either  read,  or  sleep,  or  yawn  them- 
selves into  a  state  of  boredom.  They  claim  and 
enjoy  a  licence  unknown  save  in  England's 
"  smartest  sets."  Their  manners  are  languid, 
arrogant,  and  perhaps  a  little  bold.  They  smoke 
cigarettes  and,  not  a  few  of  them,  cigars.  A  sort 
of  gracefully  subdued  eroticism  is  in  general 
cult.  Their  talk  is  broad,  exciting  and  subtly 
challenging.  They  diffuse  an  atmosphere  of 
sex. 

Women  of  the  lower  class  are  less  irritating 
and  less  interesting.  As  a  rule  their  mental  re- 
sources are  scanty.  They  sink  easily  into  apathy 
and  sloth.  They  are  "  ladies  "  every  one — do 
not  they  keep  servants? — and  they  cherish  a 
burning  resentment  against  women  of  the  "  upper 
"  ten  "  who,  "  proud  hussies,"  will  not  recognise 

221 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

nor  mix  with  them.  Of  course,  they  are  inveter- 
ate gossipers.  Scandal  is  the  universal  language 
of  female  white  South  Africa.  The  baby  girleens 
lisp  it  in  their  cots. 

Reverting  to  the  women  who  constitute 
"  Society,"  the  feature  concerning  them  which 
most  deeply  impressed  itself  upon  my  mind  was 
this.  They  are  dissatisfied.  They  have  every- 
thing at  their  command  that  man  supposes  the 
heart  of  women  can  desire,  and  yet  they  are 
leagues  separated  from  content.  They  are  rich. 
They  have  no  work  to  do.  Their  responsibilities 
are  indiscernible.  They  have  all  the  masculine 
admiration  which  the  most  exacting  disposition 
of  a  hardened  coquette  could  covet.  Motor  cars 
are  theirs.  Paris  supplies  their  frocks.  Their 
homes  are  mansions.  They  are  treated  like 
queens.  Yet  there  it  is,  as  a  rule  they  are  not 
happy.  I  saw  few  really  happy  women's  faces  any- 
where :  so  few  that  each  time  I  encountered  one 
I  was  arrested  with  surprise.  Melancholy  sits  on 
almost  every  woman's  countenance.  Their  eyes 
brood,  their  lips  murmur  veiled  criticisms  on  their 
fruitless  lives.  Their  attitude  is  one  of  patient, 
semi-tragical  complaint.  Poor  slaves  of  luxury 
and  self-indulgence,  they  are  the  victims,  the  un- 

222 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

conscious  victims,  of  the  Kaffir  system  of  racial- 
ism, and  of  color  prejudice  against  honest  work. 
In  their  opinion,  work  is  a  degrading  thing.  The 
opinion  is  degrading  them  and  wasting  their  lives. 
And  what  of  their  children,  whom  they  will  infect 
with  the  appalling  fallacy  that  work  is  infamous  ? 
Such  women  ought  not  to  be  mothers.  They  are 
a  menace  to  the  future  of  the  race. 

I  met  much  evidence  to  show  that  white  men's 
ideals  of  justice  in  South  Africa  are  becoming 
corrupted  by  contact  with  the  colored  hordes. 
The  negro  is  a  lusty  animal,  and  he  casts  envious 
eyes  upon  the  beauty  of  the  white  woman.  While 
I  was  at  Kimberley  several  sexual  and  semi- 
sexual  outrages  (of  a  most  weird  and  uncanny 
character)  were  reported.  Only  one  of  the  cul- 
prits was  caught,  and  summary  punishment  was 
meted  out  to  him  by  his  white  captor.  The  white 
community,  far  from  being  shocked,  quietly 
applauded.  There  was  no  fuss  of  any  sort. 
The  law  said  nothing.  It  ignored  the  incident. 
The  case  of  Mr.  Lewis,  at  Buluwayo,  is  chiefly 
remarkable  in  that  it  passed  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  outer  world.  The  doings  of  Judge  Lynch  in 
South  Africa  are  seldom  published  in  the  news- 
papers. There  seems  to  be  a  tacit  conspiracy 

223 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

among  the  whites  to  be  silent  on  such  matters. 
Mr.  Justice   Lynch  is  an  energetic   personage. 
His  usual  weapon  is  the  sjambok,  but  he  carries 
a  revolver  too,  and  uses  it  whenever  the  occasion 
gives  him  warrant.     Lord  Gladstone  was  so  con- 
cerned when  he  discovered  that  the  Afrikander's 
laws  and  customs  give  inadequate  protection  to 
the  natives  from  white  tyranny  and  violence,  that 
he  spoke  out  pretty  plainly.     He  became  in  con- 
sequence an  unpopular  governor.     The  British 
section  distrusts  his  views  and  considers  them 
dangerous.     The  Dutch  section  repudiates  and 
despises  them.     Fully  a  score  of  Afrikanders,  in 
more  or  less  responsible  positions  (one  was  a 
Cabinet   Minister),   volunteered   to   me   the   in- 
formation that  in  their  opinion  Lord  Gladstone 
was  likely  to  do  an  immense  amount  of  harm  by 
his  championship  of  negro  rights.     I  believe  that 
any  viceroy  holding  and  admitting  such  views 
must  notably  contribute  to  the  cause  of  negro  self- 
assertion.     It  is  clear  that  the  natives  are  quite 
sufficiently  educated  already  to  understand  the 
difference  between  lynch  law  and  justice,   and 
once  they  acquire  the  notion  that  they  are  legiti- 
mately entitled  to  be  saved  inviolate,  whatever 
they  may  do,  from  Mr.  Lynch,  a  new  and  powerful 

224 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

grievance  will  reinforce  their  inspiration  towards 
solidarity  and  revolution. 

The  Afrikanders  are  devoted  to  sport.  Racing 
is  the  pastime  held  in  foremost  esteem.  Every- 
body bets  on  horse  races,  and  the  topic  seems  to 
monopolise  all  casual  conversation.  The  news- 
papers give  many  columns  daily,  and  even  pages, 
to  racing  information.  This  sport  has  a  tre- 
mendous hold  on  the  people,  and  it  grows  in 
favor  steadily  among  the  Boers. 

But  if  racing  is  a  passion,  rinking  is  a  craze. 
Almost  every  city  and  town  within  the  Union  has 
a  large  and  well  appointed  skating  rink  (many 
have  several),  where  big  crowds  nightly  gather 
and  roller-skate  the  evening  through.  Probably 
not  less  than  half  the  white  population  skate, 
and  seven  out  of  every  ten  skaters  are  experts. 
It  is  one  of  the  prettiest  sights  imaginable  to  see 
the  South  African  people  awheel.  They  have 
made  the  practice  of  skating  a  perfect  science, 
and  their  evolutions,  dances  and  gyrations  are 
incredibly  clever  and  fascinating,  performed  as 
they  are  by  large  concourses  moving  like  a  single 
person.  Dancing  of  the  old  fashioned  country 
sort  is  the  favorite  amusement  of  the  back  veld 
Boer  population  :  but  they  are  taking  very  kindly 

225 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

to  cricket  (both  men  and  women),  and  golfing  too 
is  drifting  into  vogue.  I  saw  golf  links  not  far 
south  of  the  Zambesi,  and  decent  players  too, 
Britons  of  course.  The  sports  which  the  British 
have  introduced  to  the  Boers  are  very  likely  to 
act  as  strong  civilising  agents  on  the  veld.  At 
first  the  Boers  regarded  them  suspiciously,  on  the 
principle  "  Timeo  Danaos  et  dona  ferentes." 
But  the  Boer  men  have  so  little  to  do,  or  the 
women  either,  and  they  are  of  so  curious  a  turn 
of  mind,  that  it  was  inevitable  they  should  make 
experiment.  Now  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  to 
see  an  entire  family  spend  day  after  day  at  the 
wickets — often  enough  an  up-ended  gin  case. 
They  play  as  solemnly  as  owls,  but  the  point  is 
that  they  play,  who  used  to  loaf  and  drowse  the 
hours  and  years  away. 

One  of  the  clearest  object  lessons  I  received 
of  the  temperamental  difference  between  the  Boer 
and  the  British  was  given  to  me  in  Johannes- 
burg. One  afternoon  a  Dutch  acquaintance 
took  me  for  a  ride  in  his  motor  round  the  city. 
We  went  first  to  visit  at  an  imposing  establish- 
ment, beautifully  designed  and  situated,  which 
was  evidently  a  great  boarding  school.  As  we 
entered  the  gates,  an  immense  walled  playground 

226 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

spread  before  our  eyes.  It  was  filled  with  happy 
children  at  play.  All  was  noise,  bustle,  and 
orderly  confusion.  Every  child  was  in  the  flood 
tide  of  holiday  enjoyment,  and  such  a  babel  of 
shouts,  singing  and  laughter  was  proceeding,  as 
made  the  watcher  glad  to  be  alive  to  hear  and 
see.  "  This  school/'  said  my  Boer  friend,  "  is 
"  the  orphanage  asylum  erected  by  the  Transvaal 
"  public  for  the  maintenance  and  education  of 
"  the  children  of  Britons  who  were  slain  in  the 
"  recent  war.  You  would  not  take  those  kiddies 
"  for  orphans,  eh  ?  "  I  cordially  agreed  that  I 
would  not.  We  departed  presently  and  drove  to 
another  academy  about  half  a  mile  away.  It 
was  a  small  and  unpretentious  place,  of  Dutch 
architecture,  dull  and  rather  sordid  looking.  My 
friend  explained  :  "  That  is  the  orphanage  asylum 
"  erected  by  the  Transvaal  public  for  the  main- 
"  tenance  and  education  of  the  children  of  Boers 
"  who  were  slain  in  the  recent  war." 

We  entered  the  gates  and  peered  into  the  play- 
ground. It  was  filled  with  morose  and  silent 
little  ones.  There  was  no  laughter,  no  noise,  no 
singing,  and  extremely  little  movement.  The 
poor  little  Dutch  children  lounged  about  like 
bored  old  people.  Many  were  quite  alone. 

227 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

The  others  stood  or  strolled  about  in  pairs  or 
small  groups.  They  seemed  to  know  no  games. 
They  appeared  to  take  no  interest  in  each  other, 
to  have  no  hope  in  life.  One's  heart  ached  to  see 

them.     Said  my  mentor :  "  Do  you  wonder  that 
•>  * 

"  we  Boers  hate  the  British  ?  " 

"But  why?"  I  demanded,  startled  and  sur- 
prised. 

His  answer  was  amazing.  "  You  British  are  a 
"  happy  race.  We  are  not.  You  have  conquered 
"  us,  and  have  thereby  added  to  our  gloom." 

Oh !  but  it  was  a  cruel  mistake  not  to  have  put 
the  Boer  and  British  children  together,  and  have 
brought  them  up  as  one  bright  family.  Gloom 
is  catching,  but  happiness  also  is  infectious.  I 
confess  I  feel  inclined  to  groan  whenever  the  pic- 
ture swims  back  into  my  memory  of  those  sad 
little  Boer  orphans  as  they  brooded  in  their  sunlit 
but  most  melancholy  playground.  Their  brown 
eyes  haunt  me,  their  downcast  little  faces,  their 
deeply  meditative,  unhappy  and  reproachful 
looks.  We  Britons  slew  their  fathers.  Are  we 
doing  all  our  duty  by  those  dead  men's  sons  ? 


228 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


'TpHE  racialism  of  which  so  much  has  been 
talked  and  written  (that  is  to  say  the  senti- 
ment dividing  the  Dutch  and  British  people 
of  South  Africa)  is  very  largely  wrapped  up  in 
the  question  of  public  service  administration. 
In  all  parts  of  South  Africa  one  hears  that  British 
officials  are  being  removed  and  their  places 
filled  with  Dutchmen.  The  police  force  has  been 
subjected  to  so  many  such  changes  that  its  effici- 
ency has  been  sensibly  impaired.  The  school 
teachers  (especially  those  in  the  Free  State)  are 
dissatisfied  with  their  new  grading  and  the 
language  regulations  recently  thrust  upon  them : 
and,  broadly  speaking,  British  civil  servants  in  all 

229 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

four  provinces  exist  in  a  state  of  excitement  and 
anxiety,  being  uncertain  from  hour  to  hour  where 
they  will  be  sent,  or  if  they  will  be  summarily 
dismissed.  Everywhere  one  goes  among  the 
British  one  hears  this  angry  whisper,  "  The  Dutch 
"  are  on  top.  Spoils  to  the  victors." 

The  public  service  policy  of  the  Government 
seems  to  be  one  of  studied  concentration. 
Transvaal  influence  has  effectually  destroyed  the 
hopes  of  those  who  favored  a  sane  compromise 
between  the  extremes  of  concentration  and  de- 
centralisation. It  appears  to  have  been  realised 
at  an  early  date  that  the  dual  capital  compromise 
in  the  constitution  would  prove  unworkable.  The 
Ministry  then  had  the  matter  exclusively  in  its 
hands  to  decide,  because  Parliament  had  not  yet 
been  elected.  Very  promptly  Ministers  divided 
into  two  camps.  By  tacit  consent  it  was  admitted 
that  a  fight  to  the  death  between  the  two  capitals 
would  soon  commence,  and  that  eventually  the 
fitter  would  survive  to  be  both  the  legislative  and 
administrative  capital,  and  that  the  other  would 
be  abandoned.  The  Government  rehearsed  this 
struggle  in  Cabinet.  Cape  Ministers  fought 
hard  for  Capetown,  but  the  Transvaal  section 
triumphed.  They  signalised  their  victory  by 

230 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

doing  everything  possible  to  aggrandise  the 
position  of  Pretoria.  They  induced  General 
Botha  to  sign  contracts  for  the  erection  in  Pre- 
toria of  enormous  national  offices  and  public 
buildings,  to  cost  a  sum  exceeding  .£2,000,000: 
and  from  that  moment  to  this  they  have  been 
hurrying  selected  civil  servants  from  all  parts  of 
South  Africa  to  the  administrative  capital,  as 
though  the  fate  of  the  country  depended  on  con- 
verting Pretoria  into  a  city  peopled  with  officials 
at  the  earliest  possible  moment.  The  results  of 
this  policy  peep  out.  When  Parliament  is  sit- 
ting in  the  legislative  capital  of  Capetown,  1,000 
miles  away  from  the  administrative  capital  at 
Pretoria,  official  Pretoria  is  in  a  state  of  chaos. 
Ministers  are  away  at  Capetown,  heads  of  de- 
partments are  away,  leading  officers  are  away, 
and  all  important  official  papers  are  away.  The 
Government  offices  are  abodes  of  loafing  and  con- 
fusion. The  service  resembles  an  army  that  has 
lost  its  leaders,  and  with  its  commanders  its  re- 
spect for  order  and  discipline.  Hundreds  of 
clerks  sit  twiddling  their  thumbs  all  day,  smok- 
ing and  chatting.  There  is  work  for  all  to  do, 
but  nobody  knows  what  to  do,  and  in  any  case 
very  little  efficient  work  can  be  done,  because  all 

231 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

the  superiors  and  all  important  papers  and  docu- 
ments are  in  Capetown.  A  great  waste  of  time 
and  money  is  proceeding,  but  the  Government 
has  not  yet  devised  a  better  system.  Obviously 
a  better  system  must  be  invented,  but  what  it  will 
be  cannot  now  be  predicted.  The  only  thing 
that  may  be  surely  foretold  is  that  soon  or  late 
one  of  the  capitals  will  have  to  be  abandoned. 

The  outstanding  political  issue  of  South  Africa 
is  the  language  and  education  problem.  The 
constitution  having  enjoined  an  absolute  equality 
between  the  Dutch  and  British  tongues,  the 
Government  has  had  no  choice  except  to  begin 
establishing  the  prescribed  duality.  Possibly 
no  policy  that  it  could  have  devised  would  have 
given  more  than  partial  satisfaction,  but,  unfor- 
tunately, it  has  adumbrated  a  policy  which  has 
applied  a  stimulus  to  racial  hatreds.  General 
Botha's  desire  is  for  a  system  of  education  elastic 
enough  to  permit  of  the  teaching  of  both 
languages  without  imposing  on  either  Dutch  or 
English  teachers  the  duty  of  understanding  and 
teaching  in  both  tongues.  General  Hertzog,  on 
the  other  hand,  has  declared  for  a  system  where- 
by, if  enforced,  the  schools  should  be  exclusively 
officered  by  bi-lingual  adepts.  The  distinction 

232 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

may  not  appear  a  vital  one  to  outsiders,  but  it 
would  have  the  effect  of  Dutchifying  the  State 
schools,  for  whereas  British  is  the  commercial 
language  of  South  Africa,  and  all  State  school 
teachers,  whether  British  or  Dutch,  understand  it, 
British  teachers  are  few  and  far  between  who  are 
adepts  in  both  tongues. 

I  made  it  my  business  to  talk  with  a  number 
of  Dutchmen  in  order  to  get  at  their  side,  if  pos- 
sible. The  Pretorian  Boers  were  far  less  re- 
served than  those  I  met  elsewhere,  and  they  were 
all  men  of  education  and  refinement.  They  did 
not  scruple  to  give  me  their  point  of  view.  It  is, 
briefly,  as  follows — The  English  beat  us  in  the 
war.  They  have  treated  us  ever  since  generously 
according  to  their  lights.  But  they  are  the 
conquerors.  We  are  now  enjoying  their  free  in- 
stitutions, but  we  never  forget  that  they  were 
thrust  upon  us,  and  we  prefer  our  own,  which 
have  been  abrogated.  The  Union  has  been  con- 
summated. We  are  now  a  part  and  parcel  of 
the  British  Empire.  Very  well,  we  accept  the 
position  :  but  don't  blame  us  if,  in  trying  to  make 
the  best  of  it,  we  do  our  utmost  to  procure  our 
own  advantage.  We  intend  to  make  every  use 
we  can  of  the  democratic  institutions  under  which 

233 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

we  now  dwell,  to  aggrandise  the  Dutch  at  the 
expense  of  the  British. 

The  situation  is  peculiar,  and  the  most  amaz- 
ing part  of  it  is  the  candor  of  both  races.  Under 
the  constitution,  it  is  laid  down  that  both  tongues 
shall  have  exactly  equal  rights.  The  Dutch 
interpret  this  to  mean  that  they  have  the  right  to 
demand  that  every  child  in  the  country  shall  be 
compulsorily  taught  in  all  subjects,  from  euclid 
to  geography,  through  the  medium  of  both 
languages.  In  other  words,  every  subject  shall 
be  twice  taught — one  hour  in  the  medium  of 
Dutch,  one  hour  in  the  medium  of  English. 
That  is  the  Hertzog  policy  in  a  nutshell,  and 
every  Boer  approves  of  it.  A  necessary  conse- 
quence of  this  policy  is  that  every  teacher  shall 
be  able  to  impart  instruction  equally  in  both 
tongues,  that  every  State  servant  and  Govern- 
ment official  shall  be  able  to  speak  both  languages 
with  the  same  ease,  and  that  efficiency  in  speak- 
ing and  writing  Dutch  equally  well  as  British 
shall  be  the  supreme  test  of  all  State  employ- 
ment. The  Dutch  being,  politically  speaking, 
"  top  dogs,"  are  enforcing  this  policy  in  all  direc- 
tions. School  teachers  in  the  O.R.C.  (the  pro- 
vince in  which  the  Hertzog  teaching  system  has 

234 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

been  established)  have  been  degraded  in  a  whole- 
sale fashion,  whatever  their  qualifications,  who 
will  not  speak  Dutch  as  well  as  English,  and  all 
over  the  Union  the  language  test  is  displacing 
British  by  Dutch  officials  in  all  branches  of  the 
Government  service.  The  racial  sentiment  of 
the  British  has  thereby  been  violently  inflamed. 

The  trouble  of  the  British  is,  that  whereas 
almost  every  Boer  can  speak  English,  very  few 
British  know  Dutch.  The  dual  language  test, 
therefore,  hits  them  hard,  and  they  see  in  it 
nought  but  a  political  weapon  to  Dutchify  the 
country  and  to  ensure  a  permanent  mastery 
(through  a  monopoly  of  public  service  adminis- 
tration) to  the  Boers.  Their  point  of  view  is  not 
quite  fair.  They  consented,  at  the  Convention,  to 
the  language  equality  clause  being  incorporated 
in  the  Constitution,  without,  it  seems,  fully  realis- 
ing what  it  meant,  and  now  that  steps  are  being 
taken  to  make  the  two  languages  equal  (it  should 
be  remembered  that  throughout  the  Crown  colony 
regime  English  was  the  sole  official  language  of 
South  Africa),  and  to  carry  out  the  constitution, 
instead  of  blaming  their  own  shortsightedness, 
they  are  wreaking  their  fury  on  the  Dutch,  and 
reproaching  their  Boer  neighbours  with  im- 

235 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

measurable  infamies.  It  may  be  perfectly  true 
that  the  Dutch  are  over  sternly  and  over  hastily 
proceeding  to  equalise  the  languages,  but  their 
constitutional  right  to  do  so  cannot  be  questioned, 
and  the  British  are  only  hurting  themselves  by 
their  vituperative  impatience.  Wisdom  suggests 
that  they  should  bend  their  efforts  to  procure  such 
a  sane  modification  of  the  Hertzog  policy  as 
would  do  away  with  the  compulsory  dual  medium 
ideal — a  severe  handicap  on  the  child — and 
substitute  a  plan  whereby  one  medium  of  instruc- 
tion alone  should  be  employed  (Dutch  in  Dutch 
centres  and  English  in  English  centres)  and  the 
other  language  (not  locally  used  as  the  medium) 
be  made  merely  a  compulsory  subject  every- 
where. 

But  the  British  extremists  are  considering 
neither  the  educational  interests  of  the  child  nor 
the  future  of  the  country.  They  can  see  nothing 
but  the  fact  that  the  bi-lingual  clause  in  the  con- 
stitution threatens  to  Dutchify  the  public  ser- 
vice, owing  to  the  present  inability  of  the  average 
Britisher  to  speak  Dutch,  and  their  minds  are 
quite  oblivious  of  the  larger  issue.  Their  anger 
and  resentment  have  taken  the  form  of  the 
creation  of  a  great  British  secret  society,  called 

236 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

the  "  Sons  of  England."  Pretoria  is  the  head- 
centre  of  this  organisation.  Its  membership  is 
enormous,  and  it  is  spreading  its  ramifications  at 
railroad  speed  all  over  South  Africa.  The 
objects  of  the  Society  are  to  exalt  the  material 
interests  of  the  British  and  to  "  down  the  Dutch." 
Members  swear  to  stick  together  on  all  points  of 
common  interest,  and  it  is  freely  whispered  that 
their  weapon  is  the  boycott.  The  Dutch  regard 
the  society  with  open  scorn,  but  with  covert  mis- 
giving and  profound  dissatisfaction.  They  say 
of  it — "  It  is  a  secret  order,  therefore  must  be  a 
"  bad  order,  with  shameful  objects  to  serve.  We 
"  Boers  fight  openly.  The  British  are  cowards. 
'  They  fight  in  the  dark."  In  good  truth  the 
British  never  made  a  greater  mistake  than  in 
starting  this  foolish  and  most  reckless  movement 
It  can  do  no  good :  it  is  actually  doing  a  large 
amount  of  harm. 

Personally,  I  think  that  the  British  and  Boers 
are  far  less  antipathetic  than  appears.  At  pre- 
sent there  is  much  clash  and  contest,  but  it  is  all 
in  words,  and  much  of  the  inspiration  flows  from 
aggressively  ambitious  or  disgruntled  official 
sources.  When  the  common  people  of  the  rival 
races  meet,  they  are  nearly  always  friendly,  and 

237 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

they  live  everywhere,  except  on  the  back  veld,  in 
terms  of  amity.  Extremists  are  numerous,  but 
they  seem  more  numerous  than  they  really  are 
because  they  make  themselves  conspicuous. 
The  racial  aversion  will  simmer  down  as  soon  as 
the  language  problem  is  settled,  and  I  am  hope- 
ful that  it  will  eventually  disappear.  Soon  or 
late  it  is  inevitable  that  the  two  white  races  must 
combine  to  act  in  concert  against  the  increasing 
power  of  the  negro.  That  is  the  real  racial  diffi- 
culty in  South  Africa,  and  it  is  destined  to 
obliterate  the  other.  The  natives  in  the  Cape 
province  have  the  same  political  rights  as  the 
whites.  In  Natal,  the  Transvaal,  and  the  O.R.C. 
they  have  no  political  rights  worthy  of  the  name. 
The  natives  are  beginning  to  display  a  strong 
tendency  to  self-assertion  throughout  the  Union. 
The  whisper  is  heard  in  all  directions,  "  The 
"  native  wants  the  franchise."  When  that  whisper 
grows  into  a  voice — and  be  assured  it  will  learn 
some  day  to  a  shout — the  Boer  and  Briton  will  be 
at  one.  The  universal  opinion  among  the  whites 
is  that  they  cannot  give  way  on  that  point.  If 
they  did  they  would  be  swamped.  "  We  cannot 
"  have  any  mixing,"  they  say,  "  either  political 
"  or  social."  The  barrier  must  be  defended  and 

238 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

strengthened.  To  break  it  down  anywhere  would 
be  to  court  destruction.  How  to  stave  off  the 
encroachments  of  the  negro — how  to  prevent  the 
natives  from  developing  their  latent  powers  and 
extorting  equal  political  rights  from  the  whites — 
those  are  the  vital  questions  that  Boers  and 
Britons  must  soon  face  vitally :  and  the  first 
serious  attempt  to  answer  them  will  force  the 
white  races  irresistibly  to  a  solid  and  permanent 
amalgamation. 


239 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  PASTORAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  OUTLOOK 

A  FEATURE  of  South  Africa  that  greatly 
astonished  me  is  the  paucity  of  its  timber 
resources.  More  than  three-fourths  of 
South  Africa  is  destitute  of  trees :  the  rest  is 
sparsely  covered  with  what  the  Afrikanders  call 
"  bush " — a  thin  melange  of  stunted,  weedy 
growths,  which  hardly  deserve  the  name  of  trees. 
There  are,  of  course,  a  few  species  of  fair  sized 
and  economically  valuable  indigenous  plants,  such 
as  the  Stink-wood,  the  Sneeze-wood,  the  Yellow- 
wood,  the  Assegai-wood,  the  Mlanje-Cedar,  and 
the  Mopani,  but  outside  of  Natal — the  garden 
province  of  the  Union — they  do  not  flourish  un- 
less protected  and  painstakingly  cultivated,  and 

240 

f 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

there  is  no  good  native  tree  in  the  entire  sub- 
continent which  grows  to  a  height  of  more  than 
60  feet.  The  few  forests  worthy  of  being  so 
called  are  nearly  all  composed  of  exotics  im- 
ported from  Australia.  Small  plantations  of 
blue  and  red  gum,  and  the  black  and  silver 
wattle  abound.  The  gums  seldom  achieve  a 
large  stature,  but  the  wattle  does  exceedingly 
well,  and  the  Afrikanders  are  gradually  building 
up  a  lucrative  export  industry  in  tanin,  especially 
in  Natal,  where  some  35,000  acres  are  at  this 
moment  under  black  wattle  alone.  Other  tim- 
bers imported  from  Australia  are  the  camphor, 
the  jarrah,  and  the  cypress  pine.  Progressive 
farmers  all  plant  some  or  other  of  these  trees 
about  their  holdings  to  provide  shelter  for  their 
stock.  Without  them  the  country  would  be  deso- 
late indeed. 

The  great  Karoo  table-land,  the  whole  of  the 
Orange  River  Colony,  and  the  vast  bulk  of  the 
High  Veld  in  the  Transvaal,  are  quite  barren  of 
native  trees.  Tens  of  thousands  of  square  miles 
sweep  on  all  sides  to  the  horizon  without  the 
slightest  sign  of  big  plant  life  to  break  the 
monotony  of  the  landscape.  The  soil  looks 
good;  in  many  places  there  are  huge  tracts  of 

241 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

dark  chocolate  colored  volcanic  soil,  resembling 
the  land  in  the  neighborhood  of  Ballarat,  Vic- 
toria; but  it  is  all  given  up  to  pasture,  and  one 
asks  for  a  reason  after  seeing  the  stock  at 
grass — cattle,  sheep  and  goats  so  small,  so  ill- 
conditioned  and  unkempt  that  any  European 
farmer  would  be  ashamed  to  own  them.  It  is  a 
mystery  that  haunts  the  mind.  The  rainfall  is 
always  fair,  seldom  under  20  inches,  and  the 
grass  to  all  seeming  is  abundant. 

Why,  then,  is  the  stock  (generally  speaking)  so 
wretched,  and  why  is  it  that  these  enormous 
spreading  plains  have  never  been  brought  under 
the  plough?  Above  all,  why  is  it  that  South 
Africa,  after  more  than  three  centuries  of 
colonisation,  possesses  a  paltry  white  population 
of  1,150,000,  whereas  Australia,  after  a  bare  cen- 
tury of  settlement,  has  more  than  4,350,000?  It 
is  all  very  well  to  point  to  the  rootedly  non-pro- 
gressive habits  and  methods  of  the  Boers,  but  the 
explanation  is  insufficient.  There  are  as  many 
British  as  Boers  in  South  Africa,  and  not  all  the 
land  is  tied  up.  Much  of  it  in  the  south  and 
south-west  is  cultivated  and  fairly  well  closely 
settled.  More  than  500,000  acres  in  the  Union 
are  under  irrigation,  yet  South  Africa  is  unable 

242 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

to  feed  herself.  Such  a  thing  as  the  export  of 
cereals  was,  until  quite  recently,  unknown,  and 
large  quantities  of  grain  always  have  had  to  be 
imported  every  year  from  abroad.  Evidently  the 
problem  cannot  be  solved  by  a  mere  reference  to 
Boer  non-progressiveness. 

Looking  a  little  deeper  into  the  agricultural 
question,  one  soon  arrives  at  an  understanding 
why  the  old-fashioned  Boer  preferred  squatting 
to  the  plough.  Here  in  South  Africa  the  rule, 
in  a  very  peculiar  sense,  holds  true,  that  land 
which  does  not  support  big  timber  is  not  natur- 
ally well  adapted  to  cultivation.  Probably 
there  is  only  a  small  fraction  of  South  African 
land  which  will  not  grow  mealies  (Indian  corn) 
instantly  and  profitably.  Maize,  in  consequence, 
is  the  staple  crop.  Every  farmer  raises  enough 
maize  for  his  own  wants,  and  a  little  to  spare. 
But  with  the  exception  of  this  happy  circum- 
stance, the  land  of  South  Africa  needs  careful 
treatment  before  it  will  respond  to  the  wooing  of 
the  husbandman.  The  virgin  soil  of  the  veld  is 
crude  and  sour.  The  native  grass  is  a  mean  and 
currish  forage,  and  it  is  mingled  with  such  a 
varied  multitude  of  tubers  (many  of  them  poison- 
ous) that  it  yields  only  a  poor  sustenance  to 

243 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

stock,  and  will  rarely  support  more  than  one 
beast  to  several  acres.  Hence  we  see  large 
farms — farms  of  3,000  morgen,  i.e.,  6,300  acres — 
everywhere  the  rule,  and  when  cultivated,  culti- 
vated only  in  tiny  patches,  with  nought  save 
mealies  and  a  little  tobacco. 

Nobody  would  accuse  General  Smuts  or 
General  Hertzog  of  a  desire  to  malign  their 
country.  Both  of  them  own  farms.  Yet  they 
have  admitted  that  the  difficulties  of  the  farmer 
in  South  Africa  are  exceptional. 

"  Agriculture  is  a  matter  of  great  difficulty 
"  with  us,"  said  General  Smuts. 

:<  We  cannot  rely  on  getting  a  good  crop.  The 
"  soil  must  be  treated  for  years,"  said  General 
Hertzog. 

South  Africa  is  not  feeding  herself.*  In 
1909  (the  latest  figures  I  have  been  able  to  pro- 
cure) she  imported  articles  of  food  and  drink  to 
the  value  of  ;£  5, 723,260.!  The  imports  in- 
cluded— 

*  Vide  Appendix  "  D." 

t  It  was  stated  in  the  Senate  during  the  session  of  1911  that  the 
imports  of  food  stuffs  for  the  year  1910  had  reached  .£6,000,000. — 
A.  P. 

244 


£ 

Wheat     -  756,416 

Flour  and  wheatmeal  681,575 

Beans  and  peas  21,319 

Butter     -  219,634 

Butter  substitutes  -                              45,464 

Cheese     -  116,364 

Eggs  50,767 

Fresh  Meat     -  73,oi7 

Preserved  meat  293,696 

Coffee  (raw)     -  446,165 

Fruit  and  nuts  112,566 

Condensed  milk  -                            331,909 

Sugar  and  products  -                            494,728 

Tea  201,394 

Vegetables  61,251 

Every  one  of  the  articles  named  in  the  above 
table  is  listed  by  the  statist  as  a  staple  product 
of  South  Africa  for  export,  but  the  quantities 
exported  are  so  small  as  to  occasion  surprise  that 
they  have  been  recorded. 

More  than  four-fifths  of  the  exported  produce 
for  1909  consisted  of  minerals  and  precious 
stones.  The  following  table  shows  the  various 
items — 


245 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

£ 

Minerals  and  precious  stones  - 

Sheep's  wool 

Ostrich  feathers 

Hides  and  skins 

Articles  of  food  and  drink 

Goats'  hair 

Bark 

Fodder  and  forage 

Tobacco 

Animals 

Aloes 

Buchu  leaves 

Other  products 


^50,532,427 

An  analysis  of  the  "  articles  of  food  and 
"  drink  "  demonstrates  that  the  export  of  meat, 
grain  and  butter  is  positively  insignificant.  Much 
wine  is  produced  and  sent  abroad,  but  little  else. 
In  1909,  South  Africa  exported  ^780  worth  of 
wheaten  flour  and  the  same  amount  in  1908. 
The  butter  export  trade  increased  in  the  same 
period  from  .£318  to  £459.  The  export  of 
oats  fell  away  from  ;£  109,436  to  ^83,789.  Bar- 
ley exports  decreased  from  ^424  to  £216,  and 

246 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

bran  from  ^i,545  to  £388.  The  only  large 
advance  was  in  maize  (mealies),  which  increased 
from  £  207,364  to  ^655,994,  a  gain  of 
,£448,630.  The  grand  total  of  export  of  food 
and  drink  in  1908  was  ^479,842,  and  in  1909 
;£ 92 1, 470,  so  it  is  clear  that  without  the  increase 
in  maize,  the  agricultural  output  of  the  country 
would  actually  have  diminished. 

South  Africa  has  proved  that  she  can  grow 
maize  abundantly,  but  she  has  still  to  establish 
her  claim  to  be  a  granary.  Her  pastoral  and 
agricultural  resources  are,  broadly  speaking, 
quite  undeveloped.  It  is  claimed  for  her  that 
she  is  about  to  launch  out  on  great  enterprises  in 
food  production,  and  immense  improvements  are 
expected  in  the  next  few  years.  The  people  talk 
of  these  things  everywhere  and  hopes  run  high. 
Undoubtedly,  a  farming  revival  has  already 
commenced.  The  imports  of  agricultural 
machinery  are  steadily  expanding,  and  the  im- 
ports of  food  stuffs  have  already  been  reduced. 
But  she  has  a  great  way  yet  to  travel  to  overtake 
her  food  necessities.  And  there  are  great 
obstacles  in  the  road.  One  is  that  the  average 
farmer  cannot  hope  to  make  a  profit  from  wheat 
cultivation  until  he  has  cured  the  crudeness  of 

247 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

his  soil.  To  do  that  he  must  either  manure  the 
land  extensively,  or  else  for  a  period  of  at  least 
three  years  sow  his  holdings  with  certain  grasses, 
that  will  at  the  same  time  exterminate  the  native 
herbage  and  absorb  the  acidity  of  the  soil.  Such 
a  thing  as  a  good  crop  of  cereals  from  virgin  land 
is  hardly  known  in  South  Africa,  save  and  except 
in  a  few  favored  districts  where  irrigation  is 
practised  largely,  and  in  the  Conquered  Terri- 
tory, a  small  strip  of  country  south  of  Basuto 
land,  which  is  exceptionally  rich  and  seems  to 
have  been  intended  by  nature  for  the  cultivation 
of  wheat.  Added  to  all  this,  the  farmer  who 
conquers  the  soil  is  immediately  assaulted  with 
a  legion  of  grain  blights,  grubs,  locusts  and  other 
pests,  which  damage  or  destroy  his  crops  and 
rob  him  of  his  profits. 

The  Government  is  making  war  upon  grain 
and  animal  pests  in  the  laboratory.  At  Pre- 
toria and  at  Bloemfontein,  scientists  are  busily  at 
work  investigating  and  experimenting.  But 
years  of  labor  must  elapse  before  much  real  good 
can  be  achieved.  South  Africa  has  direct  con- 
nection with  the  torrid  zone,  and  until  quarantine 
areas  are  established  across  the  full  extent  of  her 
vast  northern  borders,  the  pests  of  the  tropic 

248 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

jungles  of  Central  Africa  will  continue  to  invade 
the  Union  and  to  play  havoc  with  all  forms  of 
pastoral  and  cultural  enterprise.  The  labora- 
tory, moreover,  is  a  new  departure,  and  it  is  not 
yet  a  popular  one.  It  starves  for  lack  of 
money,  and  its  usefulness  is  severely  restricted. 
When  all  things  are  considered  it  is  scarcely 
astonishing  that  early  South  African  farmers 
turned  their  attention  almost  exclusively  to  stock, 
and  their  descendants  have  not  yet  been  per- 
suaded to  depart  from  the  old  traditions.  If 
settled  lands  of  the  Union  were  properly  stocked, 
South  Africa  would  most  certainly  be  the  greatest 
stock  raising  and  dairying  country  in  the  world. 
But  it  is  one  of  the  poorest.  In  certain  districts, 
a  good  deal  of  dairying  is  carried  on,  and  some 
fair  breeds  of  cows  may  be  met  with.  But, 
speaking  comprehensively,  the  cattle,  goats  and 
sheep  of  the  Union  are  the  most  miserable  speci- 
mens of  their  kind  to  be  found  in  the  universe, 
and  the  less  said  about  the  horses  the  better. 
The  answer  to  the  riddle  may  be  given  in  two  / 
words — Disease  and  Drought.  Never  was  there 
a  more  fearfully  pest-ridden  and  plague-smitten 
land.  There  is  not  a  pest  or  a  plague  known  to 
man  which  does  not  find  a  congenial  atmosphere 

249 


in  the  Union.  In  1896  rinderpest  destroyed 
nearly  all  the  native  game  in  the  Union,  and  car- 
ried off  in  one  fell  swoop  one-half  of  all  the 
cattle  in  the  Cape,  some  600,000  head.  The 
horse  sickness  is  so  dreadful  a  scourge,  and  it 
rages  so  widely  that  fully  five-sixths  of  the 
country  is  quite  uninhabitable  for  horses :  and 
donkeys,  which  are  immune,  have  to  take  their 
place  in  the  industrial  sphere.  The  farmers  of 
South  Africa  lose  annually  from  ',£350,000  to 
.£  i, 000,000  in  wool  alone,  owing  to  the  scab, 
which  periodically  sweeps  across  the  continent, 
attacking  both  sheep  and  goats,  injuring  the  wool 
and  mohair,  and  frequently  destroying  the  poor 
creature  it  assails. 

There  are  four  different  kinds  of  red  water, 
which  are  all  equally  deadly,  and  kill  tens  of 
thousands  of  stock.  The  South  African  East 
Coast  Fever — the  latest  big  plague  to  assert  it- 
self— is  now  ravaging  all  parts  of  the  sub- 
continent. Its  deadly  destructiveness  is  simply 
appalling,  its  death  rate  being  95  per  cent. 
Some  few  years  ago,  in  1901,  the  Chartered 
Company  of  Rhodesia  imported  1,000  head  of 
prime  cattle  from  Australia,  with  which  to  im- 
prove, by  crossing,  the  strain  of  their  Afrikander 

250 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

stock.  The  cattle  were  landed  at  Beira,  and  were 
immediately  attacked  by  the  South  African  Coast 
Fever.  In  a  short  time,  997  succumbed  to  the 
disease.  The  three  remaining  alive  were  promptly 
transported  inland.  One  died  at  Umtali  on  the 
journey ;  the  two  survivors  died  the  day  after  they 
reached  Salisbury.  There  is  an  historic  fact  that 
may  be  left  to  point  its  own  moral.  At  this 
moment  the  Union  Government  is  taking-  strong 
measures  to  try  to  arrest  the  plague,  but  as  it 
confessedly  dare  not  apply  the  principle  of  com- 
pulsory segregation  and  destruction  to  the 
ignorant  back  veld  Boer  population,  the  chances 
of  success  are  infinitesimal.  The  East  Coast 
Fever  has  already  cost  the  country  many  millions 
sterling :  it  threatens  to  make  pastoral  pro- 
gress an  impossibility.  The  reason  is  that 
this  dreadful  plague  has  a  particular  fondness 
for  imported  cattle.  If  the  wretched  little  Afri- 
kander cattle,  "  salted  "  to  the  fever,  are  crossed 
with  good  imported  blood,  the  susceptibility  of 
the  progeny  increases  at  once  by  50  per  cent.,  and 
the  more  fresh  blood  is  introduced,  the  more  liable 
become  the  resultant  strains  to  the  disease. 
Science  has  been  laboring  busily  to  invent  a  cure 
for  years,  but,  so  far,  completely  in  vain.  If  the 

251 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

fever  is  not  speedily  conquered,  much  of  the 
country  will  revert  at  length  to  desert  conditions. 
True  it  is  that  the  "salted"  Afrikander  cattle 
and  their  unmixed  progeny,  are  gradually  acquir- 
ing a  sort  of  immunity,  but  in  a  large  sense  they 
are  worthless  animals.  They  can  never  take  a 
place  in  the  food  markets  of  the  world,  and  dairy 
herds  cannot  by  any  means,  except  by  crossing, 
be  cultivated  from  their  ranks. 

The  more  one  knows  of  South  Africa,  the  more 
keenly  one  marvels  at  the  courage  and  tenacity 
of  purpose  of  the  veld  farmers,  and  the  less  at 
their  unprogressive  habits  and  backward  ways. 
They  have  innumerable  difficulties  and  trials  to 
face  from  which  the  people  of  other  countries  are 
held  free.  Not  alone  is  their  soil  sour,  grudging 
and  hard  to  treat :  not  alone  are  their  cattle,  sheep 
and  goats  continuously  ravaged  by  a  multitude 
of  deadly  pests  :  but  the  climate  of  the  country  is 
unhealthy  to  mankind.  Save  on  the  high  veld, 
malaria  holds  almost  universal  sway.  Through- 
out the  low  veld,  and  even  wherever  a  hollow  is 
met  with  on  the  high  plateaus,  the  bacteria  carry 
the  ague  far  and  wide,  and  scatter  death  and 
suffering  around.  Whenever  virgin  soil  is  up- 
turned, the  disease  acquires  a  fearful  access  of 

252 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

vitality.  Typhoid  ceaselessly  ravages  both  veld 
and  town.  White  men  dwelling  in  the  high  veld 
and  in  the  cities  of  the  elevated  tablelands,  must 
send  their  women  folk  to  the  seaside  for  at  least 
four  months  in  every  year  if  they  desire  to  keep 
them  from  disease  and  decay :  and  the  high  alti- 
tudes (most  of  South  African  settlement  ranges 
from  3,000  to  6,000  feet  above  sea  level)  breed  a 
species  of  meningitis  which  attacks  children  with 
deadly  vigor  and  causes  a  serious  infant  mortality. 
I  have  seen  few  women  in  South  Africa,  except 
the  sturdy  Boer  vraus,  who  look  reasonably  vigor- 
ous. And  even  the  Boer  women  have  pallid  or 
sallow  and  sickly  complexions,  and  they  are  in- 
variably languid  and  heavy  eyed.  "  The  country 
"  is  very  hard  upon  our  women  folk,"  is  a  daily 
heard  complaint  wherever  one  may  go.  As  for 
the  agricultural  future  of  the  country,  even  the 
political  rulers  of  South  Africa  are  dubious  about 
it.  They  have  declared  for  a  policy  of  closer 
settlement  and  irrigation,  and  they  boast  that 
South  Africa  will  yet  rival  the  Argentine,  but  ,  ' 
they  admit  unanimously  that  it  is  no  country  for 
a  poor  farmer,  and  that  no  man  can  hope  to  make 
a  success  of  agriculture  unless  he  is  possessed 
both  of  a  considerable  cash  capital  and  a  sound 

253 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

knowledge  of  the  soil,  climatic  and  other  prob- 
lems with  which  he  must  deal. 

Drought  is  a  subject  on  which  it  is  needless  to 
enlarge,  in  view  of  the  fearful  experiences  of  the 
year  ending  December,  1912.  The  drought  of 
1912  was  no  doubt  exceptionally  severe,  but  it 
demonstrates  what  South  African  farmers  have 
to  expect  and  must  periodically  endure.  For 
more  than  twelve  months  no  rain  fell  in  the 
Transkei — the  most  productive  district  of  Kaf- 
fraria — and  elsewhere  right  throughout  the 
Union,  the  rainfall  was  too  scanty  to  permit  of 
progress.  In  Natal  the  drought  broke  towards 
the  close  of  last  November,  and  about  the  same 
time  Johannesburg  was  saved  from  a  water  famine 
by  a  welcome  downpour.  The  drought,  however, 
still  continued  to  ravage  many  large  areas  in  the 
first  weeks  of  December,  and  at  the  time  of  writ- 
ing (i4th  December,  1912)  the  general  conditions 
remain  most  gloomy,  and  thousands  of  natives 
are  said  to  be  on  the  edge  of  starvation.  General 
Botha,  in  a  public  speech  at  Pretoria,  on  2ist 
November,  used  the  following  words — "  The 
drought  will  cause  a  set-back  to  the  Union  and 
"  will  result  in  heavy  losses  to  the  people."  It 

254 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

would  be  alike  unnecessary  and  cruel  to  add  to 
General  Botha's  sorry  declaration. 


255 


CHAPTER  XX 


T  ET  me  frankly  admit  that  this  book  has 
been  written  with  a  purpose.  It  is  one 
that  the  people  of  South  Africa  will  not 
like,  and  with  which  they  cannot  reasonably  be 
expected  to  sympathise.  It  concerns  them 
greatly,  but  it  concerns  other  Britons  more  :  there- 
fore I  address  it  to  the  larger  Imperial  world. 
My  purpose  is  to  suggest  to  the  adventurous 
spirits  of  Great  Britain,  Canada  and  Australia, 
that  the  jewel  most  lately  added  to  our  Imperial 
diadem  is  no  fit  country  for  the  average  English 
emigrant  to  invade  in  quest  of  fortune  or  in  the 
hope  of  finding  or  building  there  a  profitable  liv- 
ing and  a  home.  South  Africa  has  room  for  a 

256 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

limited  number  of  skilled  artisans  and  agricul- 
turists, but  for  no  other  sorts  or  conditions  of 
men.     The  trained  artisan  who  goes  there  should 
be  equipped  with  enough  money  to  maintain  him- 
self for  at  least  two  or  three  months,  while  he 
looks  about  him  for  suitable  employment,  other- 
wise he  will  run  a  terrible  risk  of  being  victimised. 
The  agriculturist  who  hopes  to  succeed  must  pos- 
sess at  lowest  a  couple  of  thousand  pounds,  and 
before  he  purchases  a  holding  or  a  farm  he  should 
spend  a  full  year  studying  the  climate,  the  soil, 
the  rainfall,  the  diseases  of  animals  and  crops 
peculiar  to  the  country,  against  which  he  will 
have  to  fight,  and  the  local  conditions  of  market 
and  transport  and  labor.     Such  a  man,  if  intel- 
ligent, industrious  and  persistent,  may  do  well. 
But  the  agriculturist  who  rushes  into  the  country 
and  settles  down  immediately  without  a  proper 
foreknowledge  of  the  difficulties  that  inevitably 
will  beset  him,  had  far  better  throw  his  money 
into  the  sea  at  once.     He  is  doomed  to  failure. 
For  the  unskilled  laborer,  the  farm  hand,  the 
moneyless  agriculturist,   the  shop   assisant,   the 
clerk,  and  the  professional  man,   South  Africa 
has  little  to  offer  save  a  miserable  existence  and 
a  pauper's  grave.     There  are  thousands  of  such 

257 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

people  scattered  all  over  the  country,  seeking 
work  and  finding  none :  eating  the  bread  of 
charity  and  living  by  crime.  They  were  good 
men  once,  for  the  most  part,  but  they  could  not 
help  themselves.  They  are  industrial  super- 
fluities. Inexorable  circumstance  has  degraded 
them  nearly  to  the  level  of  beasts.  There  is  no 
work  for  them  to  do.  They  are  "  poor  whites." 
While  I  was  in  South  Africa  with  the  Prime 
Minister  of  Australia,  a  deputation  representing 
5,000  "  poor  whites,"  who  had  once  been  Austra- 
lian citizens,  implored  Mr.  Fisher  to  charter 
steamers  and  take  them  back  to  Australia,  so  that 
they  might  be  saved  from  the  dreadful  fate  of 
indigence  which  had  overtaken  them  as  Africans. 
Evidence  was  also  forthcoming  that  10,000  other 
ex-Australians  would  have  jumped  at  such  a 
chance  to  fly  from  the  country  where  the  starving 
white  man  may  not  do  "  Kaffir's  work,"  even 
though  he  would. 

I  have  written  this  book  in  the  hope  and  trust 
of  saving  my  countrymen  the  world  over  the 
bitter  disappointment  that  must  overtake  them 
should  they  emigrate  unwarned  and  indifferently 
equipped  to  southern  Africa.  The  task  has  not 
been  a  pleasant  one.  I  fear  that  it  will  earn  for 

258 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

me  the  ill-will  of  thousands  dwelling  in  the 
Union :  but  I  have  performed  it  in  the  honest 
belief  that  a  duty  lay  upon  me  to  relate  facts  of 
which  the  world  at  large  is  unaware.  And  I  have 
performed  it  honestly.  I  have  set  down  nought 
on  hearsay  or  in  malice,  but  have  dealt  only 
with  proven  and  indisputable  facts,  not  extenu- 
ating them  and  not  exaggerating  them.  My  con- 
clusions are  vindicable,  my  statements  are  true. 

On  page  24  of  the  Report  of  the  Mining  Indus- 
try Commission  of  1908  (appointed  by  the  Earl 
of  Selborne,  in  1907)  occurs  the  following  para- 
graph— 

'  The  theory  that  the  native  is  a  *  mere  mus- 

'  cular  machine '  must  be  discarded.  As  will 
"  presently  appear,  experience  has  shown  that  he 
"  can  no  longer  be  looked  upon  as  debarred  by 
"  lack  of  brain  and  industrial  training  from  inter- 
"  fering  with  the  white  man's  opportunities  of 
"  employment,  and  as  merely  an  aid  to  enable 
"  the  white  man  to  earn  wages  sufficient  to  keep 
"  him  in  contentment.  It  is  clear  from  the  evid- 
"  ence  that  the  position  as  between  white  man 
"  and  native  is  one  of  very  unstable  equilibrium, 
"  and  that  so  far  from  an  increase  in  the  supply 
"  of  colored  labor  necessarily  creating  an  increase 

259 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

"  of  white  employment,  the  tendency  to-day  is 
"  for  colored  labor  to  be  employed  in  an  in- 
"  creasing  proportion,  and  with  the  effect  of  dis- 
"  placing  white  labor." 

That  statement  of  facts  cradles  the  most  im- 
portant of  the  issues  presented  to  the  political 
genius  of  South  Africa  for  determination.  The 
present  labor  system  of  the  country  gives  the 
native  a  monopoly  of  all  unskilled  work :  and  in 
all  that  class  of  work  in  which  he  is  the  assistant 
and  industrial  valet  of  the  skilled  artisan  he  has 
a  practical  monopoly  of  the  opportunities  of 
acquiring  the  training  which  enables  a  man  to 
rise  from  the  ranks  of  the  unskilled  to  the  ranks 
of  skilled  labor.  Until  this  system  is  altered  in 
the  most  drastic  and  revolutionary  manner,  the 
lot  of  the  white  race  must  be  clouded  with  peril 
and  uncertainty.  Until  it  is  so  altered,  the  Union 
Government  cannot  invite  white  European  immi- 
grants to  South  Africa  without  being  guilty  of 
flagrant  dishonesty.  While  present  conditions 
endure,  merely  to  talk  of  a  policy  of  immigration 
is  to  play  a  confidence  trick  upon  the  world.  The 
ever-increasing  mass  of  local  colored  labor  is  year 
by  year  encroaching  on  the  field  of  employment 
and  the  means  of  livelihood  of  the  white  man. 

260 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

South  Africa  can  never  be  the  home  of  a  great 
white  people  until  the  tide  is  turned  and  white 
labor  is  given  entrance  to,  and  secured  in  the  pos- 
session of,  the  entire  field  of  industry.  Nothing 
is  more  certain  than  that  the  people  who  do  the 
work  of  a  country  will  eventually  inherit  it.  The 
negroes  are  doing  the  work  of  South  Africa  to- 
day. 


261 


APPENDIX  A 

NATIVE    CRIME 

'TpHE  following  tables  are  extracted  from  the 

"  Blue  Book  on  Native  Affairs  for  1910," 

that  was  presented  during  the  year  1911 

to  the  Union  Parliament  by  the  Department  of 

Native  Affairs. 

They  are  of  special  interest  in  the  proof  they 
furnish  that  the  negroes  are  a  law-abiding  race, 
and  that  crime,  speaking  generally,  is  notably 
decreasing  among  them. 

The  tables  contain  short  remarks  extracted 
from  the  summarised  reports  of  Magistrates, 
Commissioners  and  Inspectors  of  all  the  terri- 
tories and  districts  of  the  Union  (pp.  275-298  of 
the  Blue  Book),  and  these  remarks  briefly,  but 
accurately,  reflect  the  condition  of  native 
criminality  throughout  South  Africa. 

The  figures  on  the  margin  represent  the  native 
population  of  the  territory  or  district  against 
which  they  are  set.  (This  Appendix  should  be 

262 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

studied  in  relation  with  Chapter  12,  ante  page 
i6S). 

CAPE  OF  GOOD  HOPE 

1,400    Aberdeen — "  The  Sobriety  and  welfare 

"  of  the  population  have  materially 

"  advanced." 
2,950     Adelaide — "  Serious  crime  has  greatly 

"  decreased     during     the     last    five 

"  years." 

20,500     Albany — "  Very  little  serious  crime." 
14,178     Albert — "  No  great  increase  of  crime." 
6,587     Alexandria — "  Very  little." 
4,303     Aliwal  North — "  Very  little  crime  of  a 

"  serious  nature." 
Lady  Cresy — "  Crime  generally  on  the 

"  increase." 
4,245     Barkly  East — "  The  number  of  crimes 

"  for    1910    about    equals    that    for 

"  1909." 

22,000     Barkly  West — "  Crime   practically  un- 
"  known    in   the    Government   loca- 
"  tions." 
8,000     Bathurst — "  I  cannot  say  crime  is  on  the 

"  decrease." 

500     Beaufort  West — "  Serious  crime  is  not 
"  on  the  increase." 
263 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

11,262  Bedford — "Difficult  to  say  whether 
"  crime  is  actually  on  the  increase  or 
"  not." 

2,000     Bristotown — "  No  increase  of  crime." 
9,800     Cape — "  Slight  increase." 
3,500     Carnarvon — "  Serious  crime  has  much 

"  diminished." 

9,500     Cathcart — "  On  the  decrease." 
7,000     Colesburg — "  No     increase.     No     very 

"  serious  crime." 

800     Naauwpoort — "  Very  little  crime." 
2,120     Cradook — "  Small  increase." 
1,570     Maraisburg — "  Marked  absence  of  seri- 

"  ous  crime." 
De  Aaar — "  Stationary." 
32,277     East  London — "  Very  free  of  crime." 
11,650     Fort  Beaufort — "Very  little  crime." 
Fraserberg — "  Little  serious  crime." 
33,703     Glen  Gray — "  Very  rare." 

Lady  Frere — "  No  crime  of  a  serious 

"  nature." 

3,450     Gordonia — "  No  improvement." 
1,400     Hay — "  Very  little  crime." 
46,357     Herschel — "Comparatively  little  crime." 
6,000     Humansdorp — "  Very  few  offences." 
6,600     Jansenville — "  Not  much  crime." 

264 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

12,332     Kimberley — "  Slight    increase    due    to 
"  fact  that  natives  can  obtain  as  much 
"  liquor  as  they  require." 
74,999     King  William  Town — "  Very  little  crime 

"  of  any  description." 

30,000     Middledrift — "  The    people    are    law- 
"  abiding.     Less  crime  than  in  any 
"  of  preceding  five  years." 
19,000     Keishama  Hock — "  Very  little  crime." 
11,631     Komgha — "Very  little  crime." 
4,500     Middleburg — "  A   general   decrease   of 

"  crime." 

6,268     Moltend— "  Normal." 
14,412     Namagualand — "  Crime  has  decreased." 
3,500     Caries — "  Very  little  crime." 
20,365     Peddie — "  People  are  well  behaved  and 

"  law-abiding." 
1,500 — Phillipstown — "About  the  same  as  dur- 

"  ing  the  past  five  years." 
Petrosville — "  A    marked    absence    of 

"  crime." 
3,604 — Port   Elizabeth — "  A  marked   decrease 

"  during  the  last  two  years." 
Port   Nolloth — "  Serious   crime   almost 

"  unknown." 
Priska — "  Little  crime." 
265 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

28,250     Queenstown — "  Crime  diminishes  every 

"  year,  and  markedly  last  year." 
350     Sterkstroon — Indecisive. 

Whittlesea — "  No    crime    of    a    serious 

"  nature." 

3,271     Richmond — Slight  increase. 
176     Somerset  East — "  Slight  increase  due  to 

"  liquor." 

2,500     Steynesburg — Slight  increase. 
8,670     Stockenstrom — "  A   decrease   of   crime 
"  as    compared    with    previous    five 
"  years." 

8,850     Stuterhenin— "  Very  little." 
6,411     Tarka — Indecisive.      What  crime  there 

is,  is  largely  due  to  liquor. 

20,860     Witenhage — "  Distinct       decrease       in 
"  number  of  offences  compared  with 
"  former  years,  especially  in  respect 
"  of  serious  crimes." 
2,000     Van  Rhynsdorp — Increasing. 
15,568     Victoria    East — "Serious    crimes    very 

"  few  and  far  between." 
Walpoole   Bay — "  Crime   is   practically 

"  non-existent." 

2,308  Wodehouse — "  Very  little  crime  and 
"  very  marked  decrease  in  stock 
"  thefts." 

266 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

5,332     Indwe — Decreasing.        "  Stock     thefts 
"  show  a  big  reduction." 

BRITISH  BECHUANALAND 

10,150  Kurnman — "No  crime  of  a  serious 
"  nature  was  committed." 

1 6,439  Maf eking — "  Compares  favorably  with 
"  any  other  district  containing  same 
"  number  of  natives." 

28,000  Taung — "  Would  appear  to  be  very 
"  little  crime." 

18,030  Vryburg — "  The  natives  are  law-abid- 
"  ing,  and  crime,  either  of  a  serious 
"  or  trivial  nature,  is  not  frequent." 

TRANSKEEIAN  TERRITORIES 

38,024     Bizana — "  Very  rare." 
20,500     Butterworth — "  Not  increasing." 
6,550     Elliot — "  I  cannot  say  that  serious  crime 

"  is  on  the  increase." 

38,800     Elliotdale — "  Very  little  serious  crime." 
61,400     Engcobo — "  Little  serious  crime." 
32,200     Flagstaff — "  Very  little  crime." 
28,000     Idutywa — "  Marked  decrease  of  crime." 
38,854     Rentani — Decreasing. 
30,345     Libode — "  Not  much  crime." 

267 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

45,000     Lusikisiki — Not  increasing. 
3,500     Maclear — "  Satisfactory." 
8,500     Matatriele — "  No    increase    of    serious 

"  crime  during  last  five  years." 
22,540     Mount  Ayliff — "  Diminishing." 

Mount     Currie — "  Not     much     serious 

"  crime." 
26,934     Mount  Fletcher — "  Past  year  compares 

"  favorably  with  previous  five  years." 
37,000     Mount   Frere — "  It  is  wonderful   what 

"  little  crime  there  is  considering  the 

"  large  number  of  natives." 
Moanduli — "  Few  serious  cases." 
41,170 — Nggsleni — "Very  few  cases." 
35,310     Ngamakwe — "  Decreasing  yearly." 
16,000     Port  St.  Johns — "  Not  increasing." 
32,000     Qumbu — Indecisive  :  no  increase  shown. 
43,665     St.    Marks — "  Matter    for    surprise,    so 

"  little  crime." 

34,600     Tabankulu — "  Markedly  decreasing." 
35,300     Tsolo — "  Very  little  crime." 
30,340     Tsomo — "  Marked    decrease    in    crime 

"  generally." 
43>589     Umtaka — "  No   increase  of  crime  and 

"  almost    entire    absence    of    serious 

"  offences." 

268 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

35,100     Umgimkulu — "  Noticeable    increase    of 

"  murder  charges." 

49,805     Willowvale — "  No  very  serious  cases." 
13,500     "Xalanga" — "Remarkably    few    cases 

"  of  crime." 

NATAL 

40,578     Alexandra — "  No  increase  whatever." 

28,478     Alfred — "  But  few  cases." 

13,613  Bergville — What  crime  there  is,  is 
largely  due  to  beer-drinking.  Inde- 
cisive. 

26,630  Camperdown — Indecisive,  no  increase 
shown. 

25,932     Dundee — Serious  crime  is  decreasing. 

16.639  Durban — Indecisive,  but  the  less  serious 

crimes  are  apparently  increasing. 
33,846     Estcourt — "  Serious    crime    appears    to 

"  be  decreasing." 
23,915     Helpmakaar — Indecisive,    no    increase 

shown. 

10.640  Impendhle — "  Not  increasing." 
31,980     Manda — No  report. 

51,500     Ixopo — No  increase  shown. 
29,000     Krauhzkop — Indecisive,      no     increase 
shown. 

269 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

12,500     Lions  River — "Not  much  crime." 
29,185     Lower  Tugela — "  Natives  committed  no 

"  serious  crimes  during  the  year." 
Lower  Nuzimkula,  Mapumulo,  New- 
castle, Charlestown,  Ngolshe,  Paul- 
pietersburg,  Poleda,  Underberg, 
Richmond,  Mulazi,  Utrechet,  and 
Weehea,  all  report  marked  decreases 
of  crime.  On  the  other  hand,  Pieter- 
maritzburg,  Umgerie,  and  Vryheid 
report  increases. 

ZULULAND 

Of  the  eleven  districts  of  Zululand,  all 
save  one  report  either  no  serious 
crimes  or  a  marked  decrease  in  crime. 
The  exception  is  Lower  Umfolozi, 
which  reports  five  serious  crimes. 
The  population  of  Lower  Umfolozi 
is  15,000:  the  population  of  other 
districts  is  1,034,000. 

TRANSVAAL 

21,792     Barberton — "Serious  crime  is  confined 
"  to  assaults  in  most  cases  arising  out 
"  of  beer  drinks." 
270 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

4,700     Bethal — Indecisive.     Liquor  laws  again 

complained  of.     No  increase  shown. 
9,900     Carolina — "  Satisfactory."     Liquor  laws 

complained  of. 
18,500     Ermelo — Indecisive,      but     apparently 

satisfactory,  and  no  increase. 
59,500     Hamans  Kraal — "  Very  little  crime." 
14,000     Heidelberg — "  Not  a  large  amount  of 

"  serious  crime." 
10,644     Lidetenburg — "  Considerably  on  the  in- 

"  crease." 
79,600     Louis  Trichardt — "  Convictions  for  seri- 

"  ous   crimes   totalled   2 1 ."     No   in- 
crease shown. 
1 1, 800     Marico — "Little  serious  crime." 

Middleburg — Stationary. 
27,580     Mylstroom — "  Beer  drinking  extensively 

"  indulged  in,  but  serious  crime  sel- 

"  dom  results." 
27,891     Pilansberg — "  Majority  of  cases  are  for 

"  contravention  of  the  tax  and  pass 

"  laws." 
38,016     Pretoria — "A  marked  decrease  in  seri- 

"  ous  crime." 
54,885     Potgietessrust — "  No  increase  in  crime 

"  in  general." 
271 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

31,200     Piet    Relief — "  Serious    crime    has    de- 

"  creased  considerably." 
Pietersburg — No  report. 

23,834     Potchefstroorri — "  No  increase." 
1 3,400     Rustenberh — "  A    marked    absence    of 
"  serious  crime." 

73,498     Shelonken — Marked  decrease  in  crime. 
9,464     Standerton — "  A     decrease     of     crime 

"  generally." 

82,036     Sibasa — "  Surprisingly  small." 
27,000     Wakkerstroom — "  Shows  a  decrease." 
3,760     Wolmerausstad — "  Cases      of      serious 

"  crime  are  of  rare  occurrence." 
9,000  Vereeniging — Crime  confined  to  deser- 
tions from  the  Rand. 
Witwatersrand — Report  is  indetermin- 
ate. It  remarks  that  approximately 
half  the  convictions  are  for  drunken- 
ness. It  is  significant  that  almost 
every  Report  on  native  crime  in  the 
Transvaal  rails  against  the  bad 
liquor  laws,  which  enable  the  natives 
to  get  drink  freely,  and  thus  cause  a 
great  proportion  of  crime. 


272 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

ORANGE  FREE  STATE 

21,000     Bethlehem — "  No  increase." 

3,000     Bethulie — "  But  little  crime." 
30,445     Bloemfontein — "  The  chief  offences  are 
"  contraventions  of  the  municipal  by- 
"  laws    and    regulations    relating    to 
"  passes." 
4,200     Brandfort — "  Crime  on  the  whole  is  of  a 

"  trivial  nature." 
5,000     Boshof — "  Only  one  conviction  for  seri- 

"  ous  crime." 

5,100     Edenburg — "  Natives     are     very    law- 
"  abiding,  no  serious  crimes  with  the 
"  exception  of  one  case  of  murder." 
2,415     Trompsburg — "Not  prevalent." 
2,145     Fauresnuth — "Very  little  crime." 
1,650     Jagersfontein — "  Decided     increase     in 
"  number  of  assaults.     Beer  drinking 
"  responsible." 

4,145     Roffyfontein — "  Crime  on  the  increase, 
"  but  that  is  due  to  the  large  number 
"  of  natives  residing  here  compared 
"  with  that  of  last  five  years." 
13,093     Ficksburg — "Stock  thefts  frequent." 
3,650     Frankfort — "  Very  little  crime." 
35.000     Harrismith— "  Up  to  the  average." 

273 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

8,145  Heilbron — "Outside  native  assaults  on 
"  one  another,  serious  crime  is  prac- 
"  tically  nil." 

2,100  Viljoeu's  Drift — "Mostly  petty  of- 
"  fences." 

3,000     Hoofstad — "  Extremely       small.       No 


serious  crimes." 


Jacobsdal — Table  shows  a  very  marked 

decrease  during  year  1910. 
Kroonstad — Increased      during      1910, 

owing  to  illicit  liquor  traffic. 
7,000     Ladybrand — "  Is  and  has  been  rare." 
6,376     Philippolis — "  Serious  crime  appears  to 

"  be  on  the  increase." 
3,018     Rouxville — No  Report. 
12,000     Senekal — "Very  little  serious  crime." 
2,549     Smithfield — "  Very  little  crime." 
24,360     Thabra'ncho — "  Very  little  crime." 
11,500    Vrede — "Percentage   of   crime   is   not 

"  high." 

6,000    Vredefort — "  Very  little  serious  crime." 
4>335     Wepeuer — "  There     was     no     serious 


crime." 


16,000    Winburg — Supplies  table  which  shows 
a  substantial  diminution  since  1908. 


274 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

NOTE. — The  official  general  reports  from  the  Heads  of  Depart- 
ments of  each  Province  either  expressly  or  inferentially  concur  in  the 
opinion  that  native  crime  is  declining  both  in  volume  and  the  serious 
nature  of  the  offences  committed.  They  agree  that  the  natives  are 
a  law-abiding  folk,  and  that  the  prevailing  tendency  of  the  natives  is 
to  become  even  better  citizens  as  time  proceeds. 

The  statement  is  repeatedly  made  that  the  greater  bulk  of  native 
crime  consists  of  trivial  offences,  such  as  evasions  of  municipal  by- 
laws, the  hut  tax,  and  the  pass  regulations.  Drunkenness  is  a  com- 
mon offence,  and  it  often  leads  to  crime,  but  the  whites  are  more 
responsible  for  this  than  the  natives,  for  they  break  the  liquor  laws  to 
supply  the  natives  with  strong  drink  for  profit.  Were  this  iniquitous 
traffic  put  down  with  a  strong  hand,  there  is  good  reason  to  believe 
that  the  negroes  of  South  Africa  would  compare  favorably,  as  to 
criminality,  with  any  other  people  in  the  world. 


275 


APPENDIX  B 


'TPHE    appended    table,    extracted    from    the 

Blue   Book  on   Native  Affairs   for    1910, 

pages     399 — 407,     shows     the     mortality 

among  natives  employed  on  some  of  the  leading 

Diamond  Mines,  Gold  Mines,  and  Coal  Mines 

of  the  Transvaal  (deep  levels)  for  the  year  ended 

3ist  December,  1910. 

Comment  on  the  table  would  be  utterly  super- 
fluous. It  tells  its  own  appalling  story  only  too 
well. 


Mine  or  Company. 

Premier  

Nourse  Mines  ... 

City  Deep         

Durban  Roodepoort  Dp. 

Modderfontein  Consd.... 

Cinderella  Consd. 

Von  Rhyn  Deep 

Simmer  East 

Rose  Deep        

Greduld  

Vogelsthirs  Consl.    Dp. 

Clydesdale   (Coal) 
*Bantgis   Consd. 

'Princess  State 

*East  Rand  Proprietary 

*  These  are  outcrop  mines. 
276 


Average 
number 
of  natives 
employed. 
10,565 

Deaths 
from 
Disease. 

477 

Deaths 
from 
Accidents. 
32 

Total 
Death  Rate 
per  1,000 
per  annum 
48-2 

4,373 

178 

18 

44-8 

i>787 

1  08 

7 

64-4 

2,486 

132 

ii 

57'5 

334 

15 

4 

57-o 

2,260 

116 

37 

67-7 

491 

29 

5 

69-2 

2,527 

145 

44 

74-8 

2,984 

127 

'9 

48-9 

L4I5 

89 

i 

63-5 

643 

62 

2 

99'S 

312 

29 

3 

102-5 

2,439 

»35 

10 

59-5 

1.3^7 

84 

3 

66-1 

15.478 

409 

73 

31-1 

APPENDIX  C 

HP^HE  returns  of  the  census  taken  in  1910  de- 
serve Imperial  attention.  The  statistics 
are  ominous,  and  when  compared  with  the 
figures  of  the  census  of  1904  they  tell  a  story 
replete  with  menace  to  the  white  race.  The 
white  population  of  the  whole  Union  increased 
by  only  161,219  in  the  last  seven  years.  The 
natives  and  colored  population  during  the  same 
period  increased  by  621,456.  In  1904,  the  blacks 
formed  78^42  per  centum  of  the  Union's  popula- 
tion. To-day  they  form  78*55  per  centum.  In 
the  Union  to-day  there  are  51,336  more  male 
whites  than  in  1904 :  and  there  are  336,039  more 
black  and  colored  males.  These  figures  do  not 
include  Rhodesia,  Bechuanaland,  or  Basutoland, 
in  all  of  which  provinces  the  natives  enormously 
outnumber  the  whites.  In  the  Cape  province, 
the  white  male  population  has  decreased  by 
16,825  since  1904,  a  percentage  diminution  of 
5*28.  The  native  population  increased  by 

277 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

54,346  in  the  same  period.  In  the  Natal  province 
there  are  more  Indians  than  whites,  and  the 
negro  population  amounts  nearly  to  1,000,000. 
The  returns  show  that  the  black  death  rate  is  de- 
creasing and  the  birth  rate  increasing.  The 
whites  in  South  Africa  are  not  holding  their 
ground.  They  are  steadily  receding.  South 
Africa  is  continuously  becoming  blacker  and 
browner,  and  the  disproportion  between  white 
and  black  becomes  greater  every  year.  The  In- 
dustrial statistics  are  not  one  whit  more  encourag- 
ing. Whole  industries  have  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  the  natives,  and  although  the  prejudice 
against  "  Kaffir's  work  "  is  said  to  be  breaking 
down  a  little,  the  prejudice  is  still  "  terribly 
"  strong  "  and  a  "  gentlemanly  "  subsistence  on 
charity  (and  crime)  is  still  almost  universally  pre- 
ferred to  the  indignity  of  unskilled  labor.  The 
census  demonstrates  that  the  Union  Government, 
as  yet,  has  done  absolutely  nothing  to  strengthen 
the  white  man's  tenure  of  the  country.  On  the 
contrary,  since  the  Union  was  formed,  there  has 
been  a  marked  slipping  back  in  almost  every 
direction.  Black  labor  is  encouraged  by  the  law 
of  the  land,  and  every  inducement  is  given  to 
employers  by  the  Pass  law,  the  Workmen's 

278 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

Compensation  Acts,  and  other  statutes,  to  prefer 
black  to  white  labor,  even  in  the  sphere  of  skilled 
employment.  The  consequences  are  plain  for 
all  eyes  to  see.  The  black  monopoly  of  the  un- 
skilled labor  market  survives  unshaken,  and  the 
native  is  making  rapid  inroads  on  the  skilled 
market,  once  the  exclusive  preserve  of  the  white. 
Unless  there  is  a  revolutionary  change  of  policy, 
it  appears  inevitable  that  the  white  race  will 
dwindle  in  significance  and  in  capacity,  until  at 
last  it  will  only  be  able  to  hold  its  place  at  the 
favor  of  the  black  and  colored  horde. 


279 


APPENDIX  D 

THE  PARLIAMENT  OF  THE  UNION  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA 

Extract  from  Report  of  Select   Committee  on 
Closer  Land  Settlement,  $tk  April,  1911. 

H '.     The  Importance  of  Closer  Settlement  on 
the  Land. 

1.  There   are   many   conditions    peculiar   to 
South  Africa  which  indicate  that  a  steady  and 
substantial  increase  in  the  white  population  is  of 
vital  importance.     No  one  disputes  this,  and  con- 
sequently it  is  liable  to  be  treated  as  a  trite  and 
commonplace  fact,  thus  becoming  unimpressive. 
Public  or  general  indifference  to  this  subject  con- 
stitutes a  national  danger  and  involves  risk  to  the 
very  life  of  the  nation. 

2.  Your  Committee  is  of  opinion  that  the  im- 
perative necessity  of  Closer  Settlement  to  the 
Union  would  be  better  appreciated  if  the  white 
population  more  fully  realised  the  following  con- 
siderations— 

280 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

(a)  That  the  Union  does  not  at  present  pro- 

duce nearly  sufficient  foodstuffs  for  its 
own  needs,  and  that  a  sudden  outbreak  of 
war,  or  even  threat  of  war,  would  there- 
fore greatly  affect  all  oversea  supplies  and 
entail  much  distress  amongst  the  white 
population  and  economic  disturbance 
throughout  the  Union ; 

(b)  That   the    future    development   of    South 

Africa  on  civilised  lines  will  only  be  pos- 
sible by  the  -presence  of  a  virile  white  race 
in  sufficient  numbers  to  counteract  the 
forces,  both  within  and  without  the  Union, 
acting  in  the  direction  of  barbarism  and 
reversion; 

(c)  That  the  trend  of  existing  conditions  indi- 

cates that  there  is  substantial  risk  of  the 
gravest  consequence  to  the  white  popula- 
tion, unless  it  can  be  greatly  strengthened 
and  constantly  recruited. 

(d)  That  the  sparse  white  population  of  the 

Union,  coupled  with  its  great  extent  and 
the  general  excellence  of  its  climate  and 
resources,  will  necessarily  attract  the 
attention  of  those  nations  who  desire  land 
for  their  surplus  population,  and  as  lead- 
281 


THE  REAL  SOUTH  AFRICA 

ing  principles  are  capable  of  application 
to  large  affairs  as  to  small,  it  must  eventu- 
ally occur  to  some  powerful  nation  that 
the  Union  is  not  -"  beneficially  occupied." 

J.  J.  BYRON, 

Chairman. 
Committee  Rooms, 

The  Senate, 
4th  April,  1911. 


FINIS 


Ptinted  by  Ebenezer  Baylis  Sr  Son,  Worcester,  England. 


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